Barclays Review (venture debt)

UPDATEd on
September 20, 2024
·
5
min read
Barclays Review (venture debt)

Barclays Review

Barclays is a business-centric bank based in London, U.K. One of their focuses is on venture debt. The bank has a long and established history of financing businesses in the U.K., the U.S., the Americas, Asia, and Africa.

About Barclays

Barclays’ venture debt allocations focus on AI, machine learning, blockchain, smart contracts, and quantum computing companies.

In 2016, the firm announced a £200 million venture debt fund for FinTech companies. However, the firm also invests in Agribusiness, Sustainability, AI, Cybersecurity, Software, Healthcare, and Blockchain

Barclays has now completed over 50 venture debt transactions and has 21 portfolio exits spanning the U.K. and the U.S. Some of its recent portfolio companies include Nivelo, 80 Acres Farms, Kimble, and finch (Source - August 2022).

Eligibility and Products Offered

To qualify for venture lending, Thomas Mahon, Vice President of High Growth & Entrepreneurs, says businesses must have a turnover of more than £1 million and year-on-year growth of 20%, as well as VC investors with sector expertise (Source - August 2022).

In order for Barclays to lend, the business must have a good management team, a clear understanding of their customers and market opportunity, as well as a robust business model.

In terms of corporate lending, the firm has several services that can be custom-tailored to each company:

  • Business Growth Fund
  • Corporate acquisition and finance
  • Infrastructure and project finance
  • Recovery loan schemes
  • Revolving credit
  • Term loans
  • Wholesale stock finance
  • Consulting and wealth management

In addition to venture debt financing, Barclays offers several other resources to entrepreneurs:

The firm has also partnered with University College London (UCL) to assist students in creating early-stage tech startups.

How to Apply

To apply for funding from Barclays, founders should navigate to the “contact us” section of their venture debt home page. After selecting the appropriate geographic region, founders can schedule a phone call with the corresponding office (Source - August 2022).

Capchase vs. Barclays

In addition to financing using venture debt from Barclays, founders and startups can work with Capchase. When compared to Barclays, Capchase’s funding model is designed to remove excess fees that can save clients up to 50% when compared to traditional venture debt providers (Source – June 2022).

It can be helpful to see the differences between Capchase and Barclays side-by-side. This is especially true for key areas like speed to funding, flexibility, structure & fees, and value add.

Speed

Capchase

48 hours to underwrite (led by a tech-driven & highly responsive underwriting system)

Barclays

Often a long diligence process

Flexibility

Capchase

Highly Flexible: No traditional financial covenants on amounts financed

Barclays

Fairly flexible: No minimum net worth, working capital, current ratio, quick asset ratio, liquidity ratio, or debt-to-equity ratio is required to apply

Structure & Fees

Capchase

Transparent & Simple: No prepayment fees, closing fees, warrants, or hidden fees

Barclays

May include terms around prepayment, expensive closing process, warrants, admin fees

Value Add

Capchase

A prescriptive funding plan

Barclays

Discrete funding events

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