Octopus Ventures has appointed Richard Court as head of VCTs and Enterprise Investment Schemes in a newly created role.
Court has been with Octopus since 2017 and has been the lead fund manager for the Apollo VCT for the past five years.
Paul Davidson, a partner within the Octopus Ventures team, will take replace Court as lead manager for the Apollo VCT.
It will also see Jo Oliver step down from his interim role as strategy adviser to the board and lead fund manager of Octopus Titan VCT.
He has held the role since March and had previously been lead fund manager for many years after more than 15 years with Octopus.
Court will now be on the hunt for a permanent fund manager for the Titan VCT.
Court said: “I’m excited to take on this new challenge, and work more closely with the lead fund managers of the VCTs we manage, as well as the independent boards of those VCTs and all the other stakeholders we support.
"I’m particularly proud to be passing the Apollo VCT baton over to Paul, who has shadowed me over the past few years and is more than ready to lead the VCT to continued success.”
His new role will involve oversight of all investments into unquoted companies from Octopus VCTs.
The firm said the new leadership structure will help "facilitate and deepen collaboration and knowledge sharing" across the VCTs.
Simon King will continue as lead Fund Manager of Octopus Future Generations VCT and there will also be no changes to the Octopus AIM VCTs.
Alliott Cole, CEO of Octopus Ventures said: “I’m delighted that Richard has stepped up to take on this key role within our new enhanced fund management structure. Having worked with him for seven years, I know he is perfect for the role ─ his extensive experience will be a great source of support and guidance for the fund managers he will lead.”
In January 2025, Cole is set to be replaced as CEO by Erin Platts and return to a full time investment role.
Platts spent almost 20 years at Silicon Valley Bank and following HSBC’s acquisition of the bank in 2023, became the CEO of HSBC Innovation Banking UK.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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