Perspectives & updates.
Notes from the team on non-dilutive capital, European venture and the founders we back.
Budget 2026: small changes, little to build on for founders
The Budget avoided the damage founders feared but offered little growth policy, with a narrow Founders' Relief and a halved BADR limit.
Look Forwards, Not Backwards
Credit investors often look backwards at historical earnings and leverage. But the real question is which businesses will be stronger credits in three or five years. Those are the ones worth backing.
Grants Radar, October 2026
What’s Open for UK Innovators.
Nighthawk x Antler: Bringing London’s Junior VC Community Together
Junior VC Drinks brought more than 50 investors from across London’s venture ecosystem to Batch LDN in Covent Garden.
Capital Investment in the UK
Capital formation is growing at a little over twice the rate of GDP, while business investment is growing at almost four times the rate of GDP. Finance providers aren't keeping up as they do not have the "right" kind of capital.
Funding your startup/scale-up, using debt
We explore all the means of debt-funding your business, with indicative range of costs, maturities and some of the providers.
Why and when should VCs use venture debt?
Venture debt can help VCs boost returns through both increased IRR at the portfolio company level, and more efficient capital allocation across their companies. We discuss why and when to use this tool.
Venture Debt vs Venture Capital: Choosing the Right Fuel for Your Growth
Venture debt vs venture capital: understand the differences between dilutive and non-dilutive funding, the pros and cons of each, and how founders can use both strategically to fund growth while protecting equity.
Drop The Sponsor
Most venture debt relies on a VC "sponsor". At Nighthawk we prefer unsponsored loans - and they are a better deal for both founders and investors.
The ratings are inflated too...
The FT, Columbia Business School and the BIS have all now come out saying private ratings look inflated, which could force recapitalisations at PE-owned insurers that have loaded up on privately rated assets. The nastier implication is that if the senior debt is overrated, the private equity sitting beneath it may be vastly overmarked too, making ratings the visible fuse but equity valuations the real bomb.
When Mark-to-Myth Meets Mark-to-Market
Private markets have too often marked to myth. Several events from redemptions to NAIC changes are likely to force an increase in things being marked to market, with significant impact.
Export finance for UK SMEs: how our UKEF partnership removes the capital barrier to international growth
Capital is the bottleneck when UK SMEs scale internationally. Our partnership with UK Export Finance closes that gap with flexible, non-dilutive funding designed for export cycles.
Nighthawk Partners Announces Partnership with UK Export Finance to Unlock New Funding Pathways for UK SMEs
Nighthawk Partners has announced a strategic partnership with UK Export Finance (UKEF) to expand access to export funding for innovative UK SMEs.
De-coding the UKs Gender Funding Gap
With International Womens Day this month, a look at the persistent gender funding gap in the UK - and what needs to change so capital reaches the women building tomorrows companies.
Serving the underserved
Banks want trading history and tangible assets. Innovative SMEs have R&D pipelines, grants and roadmaps. Why the next generation of capital must meet them where they are.
Mind the scale-up gap: why UK SMEs still face a funding valley of death
The UK doesn't lack ideas or start-ups - it lacks the patient growth capital to turn early-stage promise into mid-market success. Inside the £4bn+ scale-up gap.
Imagine a world where companies grow 30% a year
Most of our clients live in that world already, with 20-50% growth typical. But sustaining that level of growth while maintaining enough cash is incredibly hard - and ironically still not fast enough for most VCs.
Rocking Horse & Nighthawk Partner to Unlock Smarter Funding at Scale
A new strategic partnership with Rocking Horse Group, expanding our capability to deliver smarter, non-dilutive funding to high-growth UK businesses.
Is Google dead?
AI is a potential extinction-level event for Google’s business model. With so many unknowns, history may be our best guide.
Nighthawk and Arena Investors, LP Launch Venture Lending Platform to Support UK Innovation Economy
Nighthawk partners with Arena Investors, LP to launch a venture lending platform supporting the UK innovation economy with non-dilutive growth capital.
The Funding Gap
Why crossing the chasm from early adopters to mass adoption is so hard for European start-ups - and the role venture debt can play at Series A/B.
Go West
Raising funds as one of the first – if not the first – institution to fund the tech SMEs we work with, we're often asked for advice on their fundraising efforts. We make around 200 loans a year, so naturally we’ve built strong connections with VCs and usually have good insights into who might be the right investors for our clients. However, our advice is usually a bit different: Go West.
Quarterly Update - Sep 2024
Featured new dealsPorotech, the world’s most advanced microLED and optical computing company, is our largest venture debt done to date. It is a a great illustration of our unique business model: we have known Poro for 2 years, initially through an R&D loan. This has given us unrivalled insights into the company and its prospects.We look forward to continuing our partnership, supporting the business as it continues to grow.We have now done our second loan with Future Forest Company, whose mission is to fight climate change.
The rare case of helping investors and start up founders.
Why founders are better off complementing venture capital with venture debt and R&D financing at the early stages - and why this also works for investors.
Financing green growth
Back in May of last year, we helped finance Future Forest's planting of 340,000 trees at Dumyat in Scotland.
Venture Markets Update - 2023 H2
A mid-2023 review of venture market conditions: cost-cutting, balanced growth, IPOs, valuations and the case for venture debt.
The Growth Ecosystem Weather Report
Capital drought or passing showers? A mid-2023 look at European venture funding, valuations and the role of venture debt.
Farewell SVB, you will be missed
With First Citizens taking over SVB's US assets and HSBC the UK ones, was SVB's business model fundamentally broken? A look at the balance sheet.
SVB - valuation & musings
A top-down look at SVB's balance sheet, loan book and likely deposit recovery values after its collapse.
February review
Three significant trends among UK tech start-ups applying for a loan: cost cuts, selective headcount reductions, and creative cash runway extension.
Budget: SME R&D Tax Credit down 45%
Jeremy Hunt's budget significantly reduced the amount SMEs can claim back in R&D Tax Relief, which will impact the fastest growing part of the economy: start-ups.
Tech conferences Week
A roundup from VivaTech in Paris, London Tech Week and CogX Festival - and what it means for venture debt.
Round Table - 9 June 2022
We held a round table generously hosted by Optimal Compliance, with a mix of start-ups, investors and partners. Demystifying Venture Debt in Europe.
Financing growth & avoiding dilution
Savings, Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists, Venture Debt - what to get when (& a bit about how).
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