Venture debt was never intended to be used to bail a company out of financial trouble.
And yet, when venture capitalists began to refrain from investing in stocks earlier this year because erratic market conditions made them realize that valuations were too high, it became a topic of discussion again. Across the industry, from founders to investors to reporters, the rhetoric of many was that we would see a drastic rise in risk debt this year.
But why would lenders want to lend cash to companies that have been abandoned by their investors due to questionable financial data, especially in a turbulent market? Well, they don’t. And even though people thought they would, Q3 data from PitchBook shows that risk-bearing debt is likely to see fewer deals and less loan volume this year than during last year’s robust stock market.