TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp. (TPVG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp. Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This conference call is being recorded, and a replay of the call will be available in an audio webcast on the TriplePoint Venture Growth website. Company management is pleased to share with you the company's results for the second quarter of 2026. Today, representing the company is Jim Labe, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board; Sajal Srivastava, President and Chief Investment Officer; and Mike Wilhelms, Chief Financial Officer. Before I turn the call over to Mr. Labe, I'd like to direct your attention to the customary safe harbor disclosure in the company's press release regarding forward-looking statements and remind you that during this call, management will make certain statements that relate to future events or the company's future performance or financial conditions, which are considered forward-looking statements under federal securities law. You are asked to refer to the company's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. The company does not take any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or projections unless required by law. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements made during the call, which reflect management's opinions only as of today. To obtain copies of the latest SEC filings, please visit the company's website at www.tpvg.com. Now I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Labe. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to TPVG's second quarter earnings call. During the second quarter, we made steady progress in strengthening TPVG's portfolio and financial position as we continue to take steps to enhance our portfolio's durability, grow our income-generating assets and increase NAV to create long-term shareholder value. During the quarter, we continued with our diversification strategy by investing in venture growth stage companies across AI and other attractive investment sectors. Starting with some key highlights. During the quarter and subsequent to the end of the quarter, we monetized 2 investments, enabling us to further strengthen our liquidity position and enhance our financial flexibility for the benefit of shareholders. We also funded more than $47 million in debt investments, up more than 80% from the previous quarter, finishing at the high end of our guided range as we took advantage of the strong market demand. During the quarter, we signed $306 million of term sheets with venture growth stage companies at our sponsor, TriplePoint Capital, which was an increase of 20% over the previous quarter. Our venture growth stage pipeline now exceeds more than $3 billion of deals under evaluation. Against a strong market demand, we have been maintaining yields on our new investments while also continuing to rotate our portfolio out of legacy 2020 through 2022 vintage investment sectors and into our sectors of focus on new investments. Our debt investments allocated to TPVG also climbed notably during the second quarter. Our leverage remains steady in our target range, our unfunded commitments continue to decrease significantly and our NAV increased slightly. As mentioned, we're pleased to have monetized 2 significant investments, exiting our largest outstanding loan position and selling another portion of our equity stake in Revolut, generating collectively total cash proceeds of approximately $57 million. These 2 transactions represent important steps in our ongoing efforts to rebalance the portfolio and strengthen our liquidity. They also demonstrate our progress in rotating through legacy positions, providing both liquidity and decreasing PIK income. And with Revolut, one of Europe's most valuable private technology companies, where we monetized only a portion of our sizable equity position. This enhanced liquidity from these 2 monetization events provides us with greater financial flexibility in the coming quarters. Turning to the VC market. The overall venture capital markets remained exceptionally active during the second quarter. According to PitchBook, second quarter deal value was the second highest quarterly total in a decade, trailing only the first quarter of 2026. Through the first half of the year, $413 billion was deployed into U.S. venture-backed companies, a half year figure that already exceeds the full year 2025 total. AI continues to define market activity. AI companies represented 86% of all the venture dollars in the period, in fact. Venture-backed AI companies also command to demand materially higher valuations over their non-AI peers, and they're definitely achieving faster valuation step-ups between the rounds. On the exit side, we're also encouraged by the increased market liquidity. Quarterly venture-backed IPO and M&A activity has been steadily increasing and OpenAI and Anthropic have confidentially filed for offerings of their own. During the quarter, one of our portfolio companies, Kalderos, was acquired by Model N, a PE-backed company, for a sizable consideration. Should venture-backed IPO and M&A activity continue to build momentum in the back half of 2026 and beyond, other TPVG portfolio companies could potentially be a beneficiary. As I've mentioned previously, we maintain a sizable warrant and equity portfolio that continues to grow. When you exclude the $13 million we monetized from Revolut, this marks the sixth consecutive quarter and ninth out of the previous 10 quarters where our warrant and equity portfolio increased in value. As of June 30, we hold warrant positions in 117 portfolio companies and equity investments in 60. A number of these have been identified in various publications' list of top candidates for venture-backed IPOs, not only here in the U.S. but also in Europe. Turning to the portfolio. We're pleased to see continued strengthening as fundraising activity increased significantly in the first half. Reflecting the strength of the VC market, 3 of our debt portfolio companies raised incremental capital in private financing rounds during the quarter, including Inspiren, Eridu and Hover, bringing the year-to-date total to 10 companies raising approximately $1.2 billion. We also continued to execute on the path of investment sector rotation and portfolio diversification across AI, but also other attractive sectors. Specifically, we invested in companies such as Etched and Skyflow, and our priority remains on backing what we believe are category-defining companies at the forefront of adopting and deploying AI across their product offerings. We're benefiting from the AI investment mega cycle, bolstered by more than $1 trillion in AI infrastructure build-out, which helps fuel our demand. We also benefit from increasing investments in other sectors such as cybersecurity, robotics, defense and aerospace, energy, resources and health tech. Our deal flow has also increased from the VC firms that we work with, many of which have raised multibillion-dollar funds in the last few years alone. Finally, as Mike is going to get into the details, today, we're announcing a supplemental distribution of $0.12 per share to our shareholders. In summary, we continue to make steady progress in strengthening our portfolio and positioning the company for long-term success. We recognize there is meaningful work ahead for sure, and we remain focused on disciplined underwriting, strengthening the balance sheet, diversifying our portfolio and reducing exposure to legacy investment sectors, while we capitalize on the AI-driven tailwinds out there and the attractive market opportunities to enhance our earnings power over the long term. With that, let me turn the call over to Sajal.

Thank you, Jim, and good afternoon. Q2 was another quarter of disciplined execution as we continue to build a strong foundation and position TPVG for the long term. Beginning with investment activity, TriplePoint Capital signed $307 million of term sheets with venture growth stage companies during Q2, up from $256 million of signed term sheets during Q1 2026. With regards to new investment allocation to TPVG during the second quarter, our adviser allocated $29.8 million in new commitments with 5 companies to TPVG as compared to $1 million of new commitments with 2 companies in Q1. We expect to continue to increase our allocation of new commitments as unfunded commitments continue to expire and as we receive prepayments and repayments over the rest of the year. During the quarter, our fundings of $47.8 million to 10 companies were at the high end of our guided range of $25 million to $50 million. These funded investments carried a weighted average annualized portfolio yield of 12.8%. This compares to $26.6 million of fundings to 7 companies in Q1 with an average annualized portfolio of 12.9%. During Q2, we had $28.6 million in loan prepays, resulting in an overall weighted average portfolio yield of 12.9%. And excluding prepays, our core portfolio yield was 12.3%. This compares to $23.6 million of loan prepays and overall weighted average portfolio of 13.5% with prepays and 12.6% without prepays in Q1. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, we sold our debt and equity investments in our European portfolio company, Prodigy Finance, to a third party for $43.8 million, consistent with our Q2 mark. Prodigy was our largest outstanding loan as of Q2, and the sale demonstrates continued progress on our goals of rotating our assets into newer vintages, diversifying the portfolio and reducing our overall exposure to PIK income. Although we continue to see robust demand for debt financing from venture growth stage companies, our quarterly target for new funding continues to be in the $25 million to $50 million range for 2026. As Mike will cover shortly, we intend to redeploy the Prodigy proceeds strategically as we continue to position TPVG for the long term. With regards to credit activity during the second quarter, we downgraded, trending, an EBITDA-positive and cash flow positive consumer company from White (2) to the Yellow (3) and made fair value adjustments on other loans as well due to market factors and/or performance, including Roli. As Jim mentioned, during the quarter, portfolio company Kalderos was acquired by Model N and in conjunction with the acquisition, the company prepaid its $12.4 million outstanding loan, and we realized a $300,000 gain on our warrants. As of Q2, we held warrants in 117 companies and equity investments in 60 companies with a total fair value of $143 million. Revolut continues to perform well with the company announcing a transaction at a $115 billion valuation in media reports mentioning the company is considering an IPO with $150 billion to $200 billion valuation target. During the quarter, we participated in Revolut's share buyback program under which we sold a portion of our equity shares, resulting in a $12.8 million realized gain with our remaining warrant and equity investments having a fair value of $48 million as of the end of the quarter. The playbook continues to be focused on building a strong foundation for TPVG and positioning TPVG for the long term by further strengthening our balance sheet, driving portfolio scale and quality, rotating the portfolio into new vintages, increasing the earnings power of our business and growing net asset value and shareholder value over the long term. With that, I will now hand the call over to Mike.

Thank you, Sajal, and good afternoon, everyone. Total investment and other income for the second quarter was $22.1 million. Our weighted average annualized portfolio yield on debt investments was 12.9% compared to 13.5% in the prior quarter. The decrease primarily reflects lower accelerated income from prepayment activity. Excluding accelerated income from prepayments, our weighted average annualized portfolio yield was 12.3% compared to 12.6% in the prior quarter. The decline primarily reflects lower fees from the expiration of unfunded commitments. Roughly 2/3 of our debt investments remain floating rate, and the majority of those loans remain at their prime rate floors. Combined with our mix of fixed and floating rate liabilities, we believe the portfolio maintains an appropriate balance as we navigate an evolving interest rate environment. Net investment income for the quarter was $8.3 million or $0.21 per share compared to $9.1 million or $0.23 per share in the prior quarter. The sequential decline primarily reflects lower accelerated income from repayments, together with higher interest expense following the $200 million March refinancing. Including realized and unrealized investment activity, net increase in net assets resulting from operations was $10.7 million or $0.26 per share. PIK income continued to decline during the quarter to approximately $3 million, representing less than 14% of total investment income compared to 15% in the prior quarter and down from nearly 23% from the same prior year period. Reducing PIK exposure remains central to our repositioning strategy and a key driver of durable, high-quality earnings over time. As Sajal noted, the disposition of Prodigy represents another meaningful step in that repositioning process and is expected to further reduce PIK income while improving the quality of the portfolio's recurring earnings. Net asset value increased modestly to $8.67 per share from $8.65 per share at the end of the prior quarter. During the quarter, we recognized $12.9 million of net realized gains, primarily from the partial monetization of our investment in Revolut as well as consideration received upon the exercise of warrants in 2 portfolio companies. These realized gains were largely offset by net unrealized depreciation, primarily reflecting the reversal of previously recorded unrealized appreciation on investments realized during the quarter, together with unrealized depreciation within certain debt investments. Total operating expenses for the quarter was $13.6 million, net of the income incentive fee waiver, compared to $13.2 million in the prior quarter. As mentioned earlier, the increase primarily reflects the higher cost of debt associated with the March refinancing. Turning to the balance sheet. We funded $47.8 million in debt investments during the quarter while receiving $45.3 million of principal repayments and scheduled amortization. This reflects our continued disciplined approach towards portfolio construction and capital deployment. At quarter end, total liquidity was approximately $120 million, including roughly $15 million in cash and $105 million of available capacity under our revolving credit facility, an increase from $112 million at March 31. We also ended the quarter with gross leverage of 1.26x and net leverage of 1.22x, both modestly improved from the prior quarter and within our targeted leverage range. In addition, during the quarter, DBRS reaffirmed the company's investment-grade credit rating of BBB low with a stable trend. We believe that affirmation reflects the progress we've made, strengthening the company's balance sheet and supports our ongoing liability management strategy. Unfunded commitments declined meaningfully during the quarter to $141 million from $207 million at March 31. Approximately $23 million of those commitments were dependent upon portfolio companies reaching certain milestones, with the balance well laddered over the next several years. As Jim noted earlier, given the strength of origination activity across the broader platform, we would expect unfunded commitments to normalize modestly over time as we selectively commit capital to new investment opportunities while maintaining our disciplined approach with leverage and liquidity. During the quarter, the adviser earned approximately $1.3 million of income incentive fees, all of which were waived. As a reminder, the existing income incentive fee waiver remains in place through the end of fiscal 2026. Subsequent to quarter end, we completed the disposition of our Prodigy investment at their June 30 fair value together with accrued cash interest. Combined with the partial monetization of our Revolut investment, these transactions have meaningfully enhanced our financial flexibility and provide additional optionality as we continue to thoughtfully allocate capital across new originations and actively manage the balance sheet. Also subsequent to quarter end, our Board declared a supplemental dividend totaling $0.12 per share, payable in 2 equal installments on September 30, 2026, and December 30, 2026. The supplemental dividend reflects the distribution of undistributed taxable income from the prior year and should be viewed separately from the company's recurring quarterly dividend. Our objective continues to be to improve the quality of the portfolio and its long-term earnings power while strengthening the balance sheet, maintaining prudent leverage and preserving the financial flexibility to allocate capital to opportunities we believe will create long-term shareholder value. That concludes my prepared remarks. Operator, please open the lines for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question for today will come from Crispin Love with Piper Sandler.

First, can you discuss the competitive environment that you're seeing in venture lending today? What are you seeing with regards to banks and nonbanks in the space?