Viola Credit
A technology-focused growth debt manager with a London European hub, lending roughly £4m to £42m to sponsor-backed software, financial technology and climate companies.
What they do
Viola Credit lends into Europe through a dedicated growth lending fund whose investors include the British Business Bank and the European Investment Fund, with a London team originating and executing UK deals since 2023. Underwriting is data-driven and based on growth metrics rather than earnings, aimed at enterprise software, financial technology, health technology, climate technology and applied artificial intelligence. Average European tickets sit around £5m, with capacity far above that where the situation warrants.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
For a sponsor-backed technology business raising £4m to £15m of growth debt, the fund is squarely in range and the London team has the mandate to execute rather than refer decisions abroad. The manager's wider platform includes asset-based lending strategies, which can matter for a company whose growth is funded by a receivables or lending book of its own.
Where they are not the fit
Every public fund document states a sponsor-backed requirement, so a founder-owned company without institutional investors needs to confirm eligibility before spending time. Traditional industrials, retail, hospitality and property are outside the sector focus. Pricing is not disclosed and follows venture debt convention: a high coupon plus warrants.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not publicly disclosed. European venture debt market convention: 8%–15% all-in interest plus warrants (0.5%–1.5% equity coverage); Viola does not publish rates
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Sponsor-backed explicitly required per all fund press releases
- Where they lend
- UK and Western Europe primary focus for European Growth Lending fund (GL III); London office as European hub since 2023. Other strategies also cover Nordics, Australia, Israel, US
- How they decide
- London team sources and executes European deals; senior partnership provides ultimate credit authority. Data-driven underwriting platform emphasised
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 Viola Credit’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.
- Sponsor-backed requirement stated throughout all public materials - non-sponsored founder-owned companies may be ineligible
- Sector focus is technology only (SaaS, AI, FinTech, CleanTech, HealthTech) - no traditional LMM industrials
- Venture/growth-debt underwriting basis - no EBITDA or cash-flow leverage model; pre-profitability companies are the target
- Implied average ticket ~£5.1m (€6m); floor likely £3-4m practical minimum
- No appetite in hospitality, property, retail or traditional industrials
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling of £42m is among the 9 highest of the 46 private-credit funds here.
- 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 Viola Credit write?
Published facilities run £4.2m to £42m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Viola Credit lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Not on the published evidence. Viola Credit lends alongside institutional equity or sponsor backing rather than to unbacked borrowers.
Where does Viola Credit lend?
UK and Western Europe primary focus for European Growth Lending fund (GL III); London office as European hub since 2023. Other strategies also cover Nordics, Australia, Israel, US.
What does Viola Credit lend?
The published product set is european growth lending. Published sector focus is cleantech, enterprise saas, fintech, healthtech, vertical ai.
On the record
November 2025: — Launched €300m European Growth Lending fund (GL III European vintage), first close anchored by British Business Bank and EIF; targeting 50 sponsor-backed UK/Western European tech companies.
October 2025: — ABL III fund reached $2bn final close (oversubscribed; separate strategy.
October 2022: — MarketFinance (UK FinTech) £30m credit facility (prior fund vintage, ABL/embedded-finance structure.
Sources: violacredit.com
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.