Bootstrap Europe

About Bootstrap Europe

Bootstrap Europe is a founder-friendly European growth-debt specialist with approximately €250 million of assets under management as of December 2024 (Fund III closed at approximately €130-157 million, Fund IV targeting €350-400 million raising after Dec 2024), registered in Luxembourg with operating offices in London and Zurich. The firm was founded in 2015 by Fatou Diagne and Stephanie Heller, later joined by growth-debt pioneer Humphrey Nokes and ex-SVB partner Eliott Saba, and is FCA-regulated via an appointed representative structure.

Investment thesis

Bootstrap Europe deploys capital through approximately three to four funds (Funds I-III, Fund IV raising), targeting non-dilutive venture and growth debt for post-Series A and B scale-ups with VC backing, solid KPIs or patents and assets, with a sustainability tilt. Sector focus spans biotech and life sciences and medtech, fintech and financial inclusion, enterprise software, efficient energy solutions, healthcare and foodtech. Geographic deployment is Europe and the UK. The platform is notable for its landmark buyout of SVB's German loan portfolio.

Recent activity

As a venture-debt lender, loans are repaid or refinanced rather than exited, with a semiconductor refinancing (Sivers Semiconductors, 2026). Recent financings include a logistics and robotics debt round (Dexory, 2025) and animation and media debt (Animaj, 2025), plus the acquisition of SVB's approximately $169 million German loan-commitment portfolio. The platform continues active deployment across the European growth-debt mandate. Detailed buyer names and multiple data available on Pro at €29/month.