76 How venture debt works with David Hayers of Hambro Perks

Venture debt is a niche within the venture capital market that has been growing in importance. In this episode we get David Hayers, who is Head of Venture Debt at Hambro Perks, to explain what venture debt is and how it works.

We start off by going through the basics. David talks about what types of companies venture debt is suitable for, what they look for when doing diligence and how the loans get repaid. We also dig into the typical terms that borrowers get and how those are seen in the market.

After this, we move on to the wider market. We discuss the growth in venture debt and how other market participants are increasingly more accepting of it. We then look at demand in the current environment and how there are good and bad sides to recent market evolution. We also chat about other market participants, including events at Silicon Valley Bank and how David sees the market evolving in the near future.

Links

Hambro Perks website - https://www.hambroperks.com/

David Hayers - LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hayers-44280240/ or email david.hayers@hambroperks.com

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Affluenza by Oliver James

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Bio

David Hayers, Head of Venture Debt, Hambro Perks

Before joining Hambro Perks, David was Head of Growth Finance at Clydesdale Bank/Virgin Money for seven years, preceded by a further year as a Senior Investment Director. During David’s leadership, the team grew its lending to early stage, high growth software and advanced manufacturing businesses by nearly 600%, and generated record income in each of the four years between 2017 and 2020. David devised and implemented an expansionary strategy, which required securing the support of multiple stakeholders in the bank, undertaking a restructuring exercise and then recruiting a strong origination team to execute the plan. This plan has enabled the team to accelerate its origination and completion capabilities, such that the team has now lent in excess of £300m to more than 70 high growth companies.

Prior to joining Growth Finance, David spent eight years in the London-based leverage and corporate finance unit at Clydesdale Bank providing structured senior debt of between £5m and £50m to listed and private equity backed companies.

Before moving into banking, David spent three years in auditing and then eight years in corporate finance advisory helping management teams buy and sell businesses, working for several firms including BDO in London and Deloitte in Sydney. He also spent time in industry working for a private equity backed business as an in-house M&A specialist.

David is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.