Claret Capital Partners
A London-headquartered growth debt fund lending from around £2m upwards to high-growth technology, life sciences and climate companies, with more than a billion dollars under management.
What they do
Claret Capital Partners lends growth and venture debt across Europe from a fourth fund that passed €350m at its second close in 2025, with a dedicated co-investment vehicle backed by the British Business Bank for UK smaller businesses. Underwriting looks at revenue growth, margins, pricing power and enterprise value, explicitly including companies that are still burning cash, so there is no earnings floor. The team was formed in 2013 and previously ran a European growth lending business for a US bank. An equity participation accompanies the debt.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Software, medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, financial technology and climate technology are the core sectors, and the fund's UK vehicle exists specifically to lend to smaller high-growth British companies. For a company raising £3m to £15m to fund growth or to refinance an earlier venture facility, the depth of capital behind this manager means it can follow on rather than reaching its limit.
Where they are not the fit
Cash-generative buyouts and acquisition finance for profitable businesses are not what this fund does, and a search-fund acquirer will find nothing here. Borrowers are expected to be revenue-generating and typically venture or equity-backed. Published ticket ranges differ between sources, from around £2m to figures far above the lower-mid-market, so the practical size for a given deal needs establishing directly.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Both - skewed to VC-/equity-backed companies; debt complementary to equity rather than private equity-buyout leverage
- Where they lend
- Pan-European; UK-founded (2013), London-HQ. Dedicated British Business Investments co-investment fund targets UK high-growth tech-enabled smaller businesses
- How they decide
- Investment committee (managing partners Bateman/Kampe historically on an investment committee of predecessor vehicles); delegated-authority detail unpublished
- 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 Claret Capital Partners’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 for cash-generative EBITDA buyouts or searcher acquisitions
- Borrower must be revenue-generating high-growth tech/life-science/climate; typically VC- or equity-backed
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling of £100m is among the 5 highest of the 46 private-credit funds here.
- Like 31 of the 46, it publishes no indicative price — a margin comes from a conversation, not a page.
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 Claret Capital Partners write?
Published facilities run £2m to £100m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Claret Capital Partners lend to search funds or ETA buyers?
Not on the published evidence. Claret Capital Partners 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 Claret Capital Partners lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Claret Capital Partners lends to owner-managed and sponsor-backed borrowers alike, so a company with no private-equity backer is not out of scope on that ground.
Where does Claret Capital Partners lend?
Pan-European; UK-founded (2013), London-HQ. Dedicated British Business Investments co-investment fund targets UK high-growth tech-enabled smaller businesses.
What does Claret Capital Partners lend?
The published product set is growth / venture debt. Published sector focus is climate tech, diagnostics, digital health, fintech, life sciences.
On the record
September 2025: Fund IV (CEGCF IV) second close over EUR350m; total AUM over USD1bn; final close expected 2026 (Claret / Tech.eu.
2025: 12 new Fund IV investments incl. Fund Recs, Mindler, Montonio, PRODA, SIDES, ValueBlue, Yseop (Claret press release.
July 2024: British Business Investments new co-investment fund commitment for UK high-growth tech-enabled smaller businesses; amount undisclosed (British Business Bank.
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.