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SVB Launches US$30m Latin America Growth Debt Fund

14 July 2020

SVB launched a US$30m Latin America Growth Lending Fund in partnership with Partners for Growth (PFG) and IBD Invest. The fund will provide structured debt to late-stage companies in sectors such as software, technology, life sciences, healthcare, and fintech across Latin America and the Caribbean.

(Press Release) SVB Financial Group (“SVB”) (NASDAQ: SIVB) today announced the close of the Latin America Growth Lending Fund, a new $30 million venture and growth debt fund with Partners for Growth (PFG) and IDB Invest. The Fund aims to unlock innovation by providing capital to help emerging growth companies across Latin America and the Caribbean scale operations.

The fund will provide structured debt to later stage companies in the region in sectors such as software, technology, life sciences, healthcare and fintech, among others.

According to LAVCA, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin American, venture funding in Latin America more than doubled in 2019 to a record $4.6 billion compared to nearly $2 billion in 2018. Leading sectors by dollars invested include fintech, logistics and distribution, proptech and marketplaces.

“The innovation sector in Latin America has experienced incredible growth and venture capital interest in recent years,” said John China, president of SVB Capital. “We’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the leading entrepreneurs and companies in the region and can attest to the vibrancy and strength of the innovation industry. We are excited to collaborate on this fund with Partners for Growth and IDB Invest to support high-growth Latin American and Caribbean companies.”

“We have enjoyed a strong partnership with SVB over the decades across many markets globally and we are pleased to be partnering in this initiative to bring innovative debt solutions to emerging growth companies in Latin America.  We are glad to have support from IDB Invest as a cornerstone institution in the region and look forward to working together with SVB’s impressive and growing client base,” noted Andrew Kahn, CEO of Partners for Growth.

“We are grateful for the partnership with SVB and PFG in order to bring this transaction to market, especially in the context of this unprecedented global pandemic. The Fund’s impact will be very relevant for the region at a time when innovative tech-companies are looking to be more efficient to deliver products and services, particularly for SMEs and vulnerable populations, and when financing of productivity-enhancing investments is needed as the crisis could otherwise delay it. In this sense, this partnership is also key to IDB Invest’s current strategy to alleviate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, and to reignite growth,” said Gema Sacristan, CIO of IDB Invest.

About Partners for Growth (PFG)
Established as Partners for Growth in 2004, the firm’s investment strategy dates to the mid-1980s when the co-founding partners managed the lending practice of technology investment bank Hambrecht & Quist, purchased by JPMorgan Chase in 1999. The PFG team provides custom debt solutions to revenue stage emerging growth companies leveraging decades of experience gained in structuring tailored debt facilities to support growth and expansion, working capital, and acquisition financing needs for over 200 portfolio companies globally since inception. For more information on PFG, please see www.pfgrowth.com.

About IDB Invest
IDB Invest, a member of the IDB Group, is a multilateral development bank committed to promoting the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector. IDB Invest finances sustainable companies and projects to achieve financial results and maximize economic, social and environmental development in the region. With a portfolio of $12.1 billion in asset management and 333 clients in 24 countries, IDB Invest provides innovative financial solutions and advisory services that meet the needs of its clients in a variety of industries.

About SVB Financial Group

For more than 35 years, SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB) and its subsidiaries have helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB Financial Group’s businesses, including Silicon Valley Bank, offer commercial and private banking, asset management, private wealth management, brokerage and investment services and funds management services to companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity and venture capital, and premium wine industries. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, SVB Financial Group operates in centers of innovation around the world. Learn more at www.svb.com.

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