About
Bootstrap Europe was founded by Fatou Diagne and Stephanie Heller in 2015 and is headquartered in Luxembourg, with offices in London and Zurich. Bootstrap Europe’s reach extends across the UK, Germany, France and the Nordics and supports industries that are thriving worldwide, from green energy and genetic testing to deeptech, SaaS, fintech and smarter city solutions.
Subsequently, Humphrey Nokes who pioneered the growth debt industry in Europe with ETV in 1999, as well as Eliott Saba from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), joined Bootstrap Europe as Partners. The fund was originally created from the joint experiences of the founding team financing and building technology companies.
€905m
Invested
14
Jurisdictions
341
Loans
Established by Stephanie Heller and Fatou Diagne in 2015, in Zurich and London, both Managing Partners and co-founders have extensive experience in creating, building and sitting on the board of several successful technology and financial companies.
Bootstrap Europe is supported by major financial institutions in the UK, Europe and US such as the Visa Foundation, the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the British Business Bank (BBB).
The firm operates through classic fund structures backed by limited partners, including well-known technology entrepreneurs, family offices, asset managers and financial institutions.
SVB’s German Portfolio Acquisition
Bootstrap Europe’s acquired Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB’s) German portfolio of $169 million loan commitments. Since the buyout, as of November 2023, almost 20% of SVB’s German portfolio has successfully completed new rounds of financing since the takeover, with 7% of the portfolio sold in the month of October 2023.
