Runway Growth Capital and PitchBook Release 2025-2026 Venture Debt Review: Venture Debt Hits Record $68.8 Billion

The report finds that venture debt has become a structural pillar of the venture ecosystem as startups seek flexible, non-dilutive capital in a more disciplined funding environment.

MENLO PARK, Calif., May 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Runway Growth Capital LLC ("Runway"), a leading provider of growth loans to venture and non-venture-backed companies seeking an alternative to raising equity, today announced the release of the 2025-2026 Venture Debt Review, produced in partnership with PitchBook.

The annual report provides a comprehensive look at the evolving venture debt landscape, pairing PitchBook's proprietary market data with Runway's perspective on how startups, lenders, and investors are navigating today's venture debt market.

This year's report finds that venture debt reached a record $68.8 billion in the U.S. in 2025, even as annual deal volume remained stable at roughly 1,000 transactions. The result is a clear signal that venture debt has become a larger, more strategic and more institutionalized part of the venture ecosystem.

U.S. venture investments reached $321.6 billion across more than 17,000 deals in 2025, but capital remained highly concentrated in Artificial Intelligence (AI), which accounted for 63.5% of deal value. Outside the market's most heavily funded AI companies, startups are operating in a more selective environment where equity investors and lenders are placing greater emphasis on revenue quality, capital efficiency, operating performance and path to profitability.

In turn, venture debt is increasingly being used by companies with strong fundamentals as a strategic financing tool to extend flexibility, preserve ownership and support growth without relying solely on dilutive equity capital.

"Venture debt has moved from the margins of the venture ecosystem toward its core," said David Spreng, Founder and CEO of Runway Growth Capital. "The fact that venture debt reached a record level while deal count remained stable shows this market is getting bigger and more sophisticated. High-quality companies are using debt as a strategic tool to extend flexibility, preserve ownership, maintain control and scale with discipline."

Among the most notable findings in the report:

• Venture debt reached a record high
  • U.S. venture debt reached $68.8 billion in 2025.
  • Annual deal volume remained stable at roughly 1,000 transactions, signaling durable adoption rather than a broad expansion in borrower count.

• Larger and repeat financings are driving the market
  • Deal sizes rose across the distribution, with the 75th percentile reaching $27.7 million and the median increasing to $5.5 million.
  • Follow-on financing volume increased from $4.7 billion across 129 deals in 2024 to $12.3 billion across 156 deals in 2025.

• Venture debt is becoming part of capital planning
  • The report finds that debt is increasingly being used by later-stage and scaled borrowers as part of deliberate financing strategies, rather than as a last-mile liquidity option.
  • Companies with stronger revenue visibility, customer retention, margin profiles and contracted cash flows are better positioned to access capital.

• The market is expanding beyond SaaS
  • AI and SaaS continue to anchor activity, with SaaS exceeding $28 billion in financing for the second consecutive year.
  • Growth in healthtech, cleantech and asset- or IP-heavy companies shows how debt is being tailored to a broader range of business models.

• Debt-backed companies are participating in the exit rebound
  • Exit activity reached $286.9 billion in value in 2025.
  • Venture debt-backed companies accounted for 37% of total exit value and 18% of exit count, both increases from the prior year.

The report also underscores that venture debt's expansion is not indiscriminate. While access to debt is improving, lenders remain focused on companies with underwritable fundamentals. In sectors such as cleantech and healthtech, debt is increasingly being structured around contracted revenue, recurring usage, asset-backed cash flows and other durable sources of value.

"The common thread is not sector," Spreng added. "It is underwritability. Companies that can demonstrate revenue quality, capital efficiency and clear paths to cash flow are finding that venture debt can be a powerful tool and amplify strong fundamentals."

Looking ahead to the rest of 2026, the report suggests that venture debt will continue to play a larger role as equity markets remain concentrated and companies seek more efficient ways to finance growth. The report concludes that in a venture environment defined by divergence, venture debt is emerging as both a source of discipline and a strategic advantage.

The full report, including charts and commentary, is available for download at: https://runwaygrowth.com/venture-debt-review/

About Runway Growth Capital LLC

Runway Growth Capital LLC is the investment adviser to investment funds, including Runway Growth Finance Corp. (NASDAQ:RWAY), a business development company, and other private funds, which are lenders of growth capital to companies seeking an alternative to raising equity. Led by industry veteran David Spreng, these funds provide senior term loans of a target of $10 million to $150 million to fast-growing companies based in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. For more information on Runway Growth Capital LLC and its platform, please visit www.runwaygrowth.com.

About PitchBook

PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity, and M&A landscape—including public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits, and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news, and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook operates globally with more than 3,000 team members. Its platform, data, and research serve over 100,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included herein may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance, condition, or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made by Runway and Runway's affiliated funds. Neither Runway nor Runway's affiliated funds undertake a duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.

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SOURCE Runway Growth Capital LLC