Atempo Growth
A pan-European venture and growth debt fund lending roughly £2m to £13m to venture-backed technology companies, anchored by Santander and the European Investment Fund.
What they do
Atempo Growth lends non-dilutive debt to European technology and technology-enabled companies that already have institutional venture backing, underwriting on recurring revenue, growth rate and remaining runway rather than on earnings. Facilities typically run about a year before amortisation begins and then amortise over roughly three years, and can be scaled well beyond the fund's own ticket through co-investment. The second fund is backed by Santander as anchor investor alongside the European Investment Fund and British Business Investments, with offices in London, Paris, Milan and Munich.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
For a venture-backed company that wants to extend runway between equity rounds, or fund a specific expansion without setting a new valuation, this is the instrument and this fund is one of the more active providers of it in the UK. Ticket sizes cover most of a £3–15m requirement, and the interest-only period matters when cash generation is still a year or two away.
Where they are not the fit
Existing venture or equity backing is a condition, not a preference, so an owner-managed company without institutional investors does not qualify. Non-technology businesses are outside the mandate. Returns combine a coupon with warrants, so the all-in cost in a successful outcome is well above a bank facility, and covenants, security and pricing are all matters for a call rather than a page.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Fund targets 1.4-1.5x MOIC and >10% net IRR, consistent with venture-debt coupon plus likely warrant/equity kicker
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Sponsor-adjacent - requires existing VC/equity backing (not sponsorless corporate)
- Where they lend
- Pan-European; UK coverage confirmed via London office (also Paris, Milan, Munich); BBB/British Business Investments is an LP
- How they decide
- ~20-person team sized for up to €500m AUM
- Security
- A debenture over the company
- Search funds and ETA
- No published route for search-fund or first-time acquirer borrowers
As published by the lender and last reviewed August 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
What rules a deal out
Stated limits, taken from Atempo Growth’s own published criteria. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- Not VC/equity-backed
- Non-tech business
- Requires ARR/revenue-growth trajectory, not EBITDA
- No appetite in non-technology businesses
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £13m; 26 of the 46 private-credit funds here go at least as high.
- 15 of the 46 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
Counted across the 46 private-credit & direct-lending funds in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
How large a facility does Atempo Growth write?
Published facilities run £2m to £13m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
What security does Atempo Growth take?
On the published terms, a debenture over the company. What a lender takes on a given facility is set in the documents, not by a published stance.
Does Atempo Growth lend to search funds or ETA buyers?
Not on the published evidence. Atempo Growth publishes no route for search-fund or first-time acquirer borrowers. A searcher's route to a lender usually runs through the quality of the target and the equity behind it.
Does Atempo Growth lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Not on the published evidence. Atempo Growth lends alongside institutional equity or sponsor backing rather than to unbacked borrowers.
Where does Atempo Growth lend?
Pan-European; UK coverage confirmed via London office (also Paris, Milan, Munich); BBB/British Business Investments is an LP.
On the record
April 2025: Fund II first close EUR300m; Santander anchor up to EUR160m; LPs incl. EIF, British Business Investments/BBB (£30m), Decalia (Santander press release.
2025: Fund II third close EUR455m; CDP Venture Capital joins (EUR15m); final close targeted Q3 2026; platform AUM EUR800m+, 200+ deals (atempogrowth.com.
Sources: british-business-bank.co.uk
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.