Peter Thiel-backed venture debt firm Tacora raises $268.7 million for new fund

Tacora Capital, a Texas firm specializing in venture debt, raised $268.7 million for its second fund. new SEC filing.

Tacora’s inaugural fund in 2022 has raised about $350 million, including $250 million from prominent Republican billionaire and investor Peter Thiel, which Thiel considered an “extraordinarily large investment.” Bloomberg reported at that time.

It’s not clear whether Thiel was involved in Tacora’s latest fund: all the filing disclosed was that there were 28 (unnamed) investors. Tacora founder and CEO Carey Findley declined to comment on whether Thiel would invest. Representatives for Thiel did not immediately respond to TechCrunch.

Founded in 2021, Tacora is based in Austin. Findley first met Thiel through Thiel Capital, a VC firm, when he worked as a partner at hedge fund Third Point. According to Bloomberg.

Findley told TechCrunch that the new fund reflects the successful deployment of the original fund and the demand for “flexible, non-leveraged” financing solutions.

Instead of buying equity like traditional VCs, venture debt firms lend cash to startups and other businesses. This type of financing can be attractive to founders who need money but don’t want to dilute their ownership rights. Tacora specializes in lending to capital-intensive businesses like fintech and hardware companies, Findley told TechCrunch. (Findley declined to give examples of specific companies he has supported so far.)

The risk of venture debt, of course, is that startups, which often burn through cash, can’t pay back their loans. Tacora says it only backs loans against “specific, strong assets owned by well-positioned companies.” says the press release for the first fund.