Journey into European Venture Debt: Insights and Strategies

Today, we have with us David Bateman, Managing Partner at Claret Capital Partners a growth capital fund based in the United Kingdom.

The venture capital fund has a total size of €297M with +€700M in AUM and focuses primarily on growth-stage and VC-backed deals with European companies that are typically post-Series B. As an investment thesis, they focus on technology and life science companies, and some of their most notable investments are in Abivax, Butternut Box, Holidu, and Veed.

David has more than 20 years of experience in technology lending and financing. Prior to the buyout of Claret Capital from Harbert Management Corporation, he and Johan Kampe had co-founded Harbert European Growth Capital.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

03:17 David's Journey into Venture Capital
05:37 The Role of Debt in Venture-Backed Businesses
07:19 Venture Debt's Unique Position in Europe
11:03 Optimal Timing for Venture Debt
12:05 Sector-Specific Strategies for Venture Debt
16:48 Key Players in the European Venture Debt Ecosystem
21:36 Understanding the Terms of Venture Debt Deals
27:26 Capital Return Timelines and LP Expectations
28:21 Venture Debt in Different Market Conditions
31:25 The European Venture Landscape
36:30 Building Relationships with VCs and Entrepreneurs
43:25 Learnings from the Latest Fundraising Round
48:30 Advice for Emerging VCs and Final Thoughts