Between two million and 40 million ordinary shares will be allocated to the public at a price of 100p per share. The VCTs are expected to close to new investment on 4 April 2008, or earlier if the maximum subscription is reached.

The fund will be managed by the Octopus Ventures team, formerly known as Katalyst Ventures before the acquisition of Katalyst by Octopus last month. With a portfolio consisting of investments in around 20 to 25 companies, the VCTs’ managers will aim to generate long-term ‘real returns’, as opposed to measuring performance against an index.

The twin structure, common in VCTs, enables the fund to make investments of up to £2 million per company, twice the amount possible for single VCTs. Investors’ money will be split equally between the two funds.

Octopus Investments was established in 2000 and currently has almost £400 million under management.