Trinity Capital Inc. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

We are subject to risks related to our business and structure, including, but not limited to the following:

We are subject to risks related to our investments, including, but not limited to the following:

Risks related to an investment in our securities include, but are not limited to, the following:

We are subject to risks related to U.S. federal income tax including, but not limited to, the following:

We depend upon our senior management team and investment professionals, including the members of the Investment Committee, for our success.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective and to make distributions to our stockholders depends upon the performance of our senior management. We depend on the investment expertise, skill and network of business

contacts of our senior management team and investment professionals, including the members of the Investment Committee, who evaluate, negotiate, structure, execute, monitor and service our investments. Our success depends to a significant extent on the continued service and coordination of these individuals. The departure of any of these individuals or competing demands on their time in the future could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective. Further, if these individuals do not maintain their existing relationships with financial institutions, sponsors and investment professionals and do not develop new relationships with other sources of investment opportunities, we may not be able to grow our investment portfolio or achieve our investment objective. This could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our business model depends to a significant extent upon strong referral relationships with venture capital sponsors, and our inability to develop or maintain these relationships, or the failure of these relationships to generate investment opportunities, could adversely affect our business.

We expect that members of our management team will maintain their relationships with venture capital sponsors, and we will rely to a significant extent upon these relationships to provide us with our deal flow. If we fail to maintain our existing relationships, our relationships become strained as a result of enforcing our rights with respect to non-performing investments in protecting our investments or we fail to develop new relationships with other firms or sources of investment opportunities, then we will not be able to grow our investment portfolio. In addition, persons with whom members of our management team have relationships are not obligated to provide us with investment opportunities and, therefore, there is no assurance that such relationships will lead to the origination of debt or other investments.

Our financial condition and results of operations depend on our ability to manage our business effectively.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective and grow depends on our ability to manage our business. This depends, in turn, on our ability to identify, invest in and monitor companies that meet our investment criteria. The achievement of our investment objective depends upon the execution of our investment process and our access to financing on acceptable terms. Our senior origination professionals and other investment personnel may be called upon to provide managerial assistance to our portfolio companies. These activities may distract them or slow our rate of investment. Any failure to manage our business and our future growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Our results of operations depend on many factors, including the availability of opportunities for investment, readily accessible short and long-term funding alternatives in the financial markets and economic conditions. Furthermore, if we cannot successfully operate our business or implement our investment policies and strategies, it could negatively impact our ability to pay distributions or other distributions and you may lose all or part of your investment.

We are subject to certain regulatory restrictions that may adversely affect our business.

As an internally managed BDC, the size and categories of our assets under management are limited, and we will be unable to offer as wide a variety of financial products to prospective portfolio companies and sponsors (potentially limiting the size and diversification of our asset base). We therefore may not achieve efficiencies of scale and greater management resources available to externally managed BDCs.

Additionally, as an internally managed BDC, our ability to offer more competitive and flexible compensation structures, such as offering both a profit-sharing plan and a long-term incentive plan, is subject to the limitations imposed by the 1940 Act, which may limit our ability to attract and retain talented investment management professionals. As such, these limitations could inhibit our ability to grow, pursue our business plan and attract and retain professional talent, any or all of which may have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities, which could reduce returns and result in losses.

Our competitors include both existing and newly formed equity and debt focused public and private funds, other BDCs, investment banks, venture-oriented commercial banks, commercial financing companies and, to the extent they provide an alternative form of financing, private equity and hedge funds. Many of our competitors are

substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than us. For example, some competitors may have a lower cost of capital and access to funding sources (including deposits) that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments than we have. Furthermore, many of our competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions that the 1940 Act imposes on us as a BDC or to the distribution and other requirements we must satisfy to maintain our ability to be subject to tax as a RIC. These characteristics could allow our competitors to consider a wider variety of investments, establish more relationships and offer better pricing and more flexible structuring than we are able to offer.

The competitive pressures we face may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We believe that some competitors may make loans with rates that are comparable or lower than our rates. We may lose some investment opportunities if we do not match our competitors’ pricing, terms and structure. However, if we match our competitors’ pricing, terms and structure, we may experience decreased net interest income, lower yields and increased risk of credit loss. As a result of this competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time, and we may not be able to identify and make investments that are consistent with our investment objective.

In addition, we believe a significant part of our competitive advantage stems from the fact that the market for investments in small, fast-growing, private companies is underserved by traditional commercial banks and other financing sources. A significant increase in the number and/or the size of our competitors in this target market could force us to accept less attractive investment terms.

Capital markets may experience periods of disruption and instability, including as recently experienced. Such market conditions may materially and adversely affect debt and equity capital markets in the United States and abroad, which may have a negative impact on our business and operations.

From time-to-time, capital markets may experience periods of disruption and instability, including during portions of the last three fiscal years. Since 2020, the U.S. capital markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruption, as evidenced by the volatility in global stock markets as a result of, among other things, uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, interest rate and inflation rate environments, and the fluctuating price of commodities such as oil. Despite actions of the U.S. federal government and foreign governments, these types of events contribute to unpredictable general economic conditions that materially and adversely impact the broader financial and credit markets and reduce the availability of debt and equity capital for the market as a whole. These conditions could continue for a prolonged period of time or worsen in the future.

Given the ongoing and dynamic nature of recent market disruption and instability, it is difficult to predict the full impact of these conditions on our business. The extent of any such impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain, including the duration or reoccurrence of any potential business or supply chain disruption, changes in interest rates and inflation rates, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, health epidemics and pandemics and the actions taken by governments in response to these conditions.

During any such periods of market disruption and instability, we and other companies in the financial services sector may have limited access, if available, to alternative markets for debt and equity capital. Equity capital may be difficult to raise because, subject to some limited exceptions that apply to us as a BDC, we are generally not be able to issue additional shares of our common stock at a price less than net asset value without first obtaining approval for such issuance from our stockholders and our independent directors. From time to time, we may seek approval from our stockholders so that we have the flexibility to issue up to 25% of our then outstanding shares of our common stock at a price below net asset value. Pursuant to the approval granted at our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders held on June 8, 2022, we are permitted to sell or otherwise issue shares of our common stock at a price below net asset value, subject to certain limitations and determinations that must be made by our board of directors. Such stockholder approval expires on the earlier of June 8, 2023 and the date of our 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.

Volatility and dislocation in the capital markets can also create a challenging environment in which to raise or access debt capital, and our ability to incur indebtedness (including by issuing preferred stock) is limited by applicable regulations such that our asset coverage (as defined in the 1940 Act) must equal at least 150% immediately after each time we incur indebtedness. The continuance or reappearance of market conditions similar to

those experienced during portions of the last three fiscal years for any substantial length of time could make it difficult to extend the maturity of or refinance our existing indebtedness or obtain new indebtedness with similar terms and any failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business. The debt capital that will be available to us in the future, if at all, may be at a higher cost and on less favorable terms and conditions than what we currently experience, including being at a higher cost in rising rate environments. If we are unable to raise or refinance debt, then our equity investors may not benefit from the potential for increased returns on equity resulting from leverage and we may be limited in our ability to make new commitments or to fund existing commitments to our portfolio companies. An inability to extend the maturity of, or refinance, our existing indebtedness or obtain new indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Significant disruption or volatility in the capital markets may also have a negative effect on the valuations of our investments and on the potential for liquidity events involving these investments. While most of our investments are not publicly traded, applicable accounting standards require us to assume as part of our valuation process that our investments are sold in a principal market to market participants (even if we plan on holding an investment through its maturity). As a result, volatility in the capital markets can adversely affect our investment valuations.

Significant disruption or volatility in the capital markets may also affect the pace of our investment activity and the potential for liquidity events involving our investments. The illiquidity of our investments may make it difficult for us to sell such investments to access capital if required and to value such investments. Consequently, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we carry our investments. An inability to raise capital, and any required sale of our investments for liquidity purposes, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, a prolonged period of market illiquidity may cause us to reduce the volume of loans and debt securities we originate and/or fund and adversely affect the value of our portfolio investments, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We may need to raise additional capital to grow because we must distribute most of our income.

We may need additional capital to fund new investments and grow our portfolio of investments through public and/or private offerings of both debt and equity. Unfavorable economic conditions could increase our funding costs or result in a decision by lenders not to amend any outstanding credit facility or extend credit to us. A reduction in the availability of new capital could limit our ability to grow. In addition, we generally are required to distribute each taxable year an amount at least equal to 90% of our “investment company taxable income” (i.e., our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, if any) to our stockholders to continue to be taxed as a RIC. As a result, these earnings are not available to fund new investments.

Regulations governing our operation as a BDC affect our ability to and the way in which we raise additional capital.

We issued the 2025 Notes, the August 2026 Notes, the December 2026 Notes (collectively, the “Notes”) and the Convertible Notes, and entered into the KeyBank Credit Facility through our wholly owned subsidiary, TCF, and may issue other debt securities or preferred stock and/or borrow money from other banks or other financial institutions, which we refer to collectively as “senior securities,” up to the maximum amount permitted by the 1940 Act. Under the provisions of the 1940 Act, we are permitted as a BDC to issue senior securities in amounts such that our asset coverage ratio, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 150% (if certain requirements are met) of total assets less all liabilities and indebtedness not represented by senior securities immediately after each issuance of senior securities. We have satisfied the requirements to increase our asset coverage ratio to 150%, including stockholder and Board approval. Under a 150% asset coverage ratio, we could potentially borrow $2 for investment purposes of every $1 of investor equity.

If the value of our assets declines, we may be unable to satisfy this test. If that happens, we may be required to sell a portion of our investments and, depending on the nature of our leverage, repay a portion of our indebtedness at a time when such sales may be disadvantageous. This could have a material adverse effect on our operations, and we may not be able to make distributions in an amount sufficient to be subject to taxation as a RIC, or at all. See “—We may borrow money, which may magnify the potential for gain or loss and may increase the risk of investing in us.” In addition, issuance of securities could dilute the percentage ownership of our current stockholders in us.

No person or entity from which we borrow money will have a veto power or a vote in approving or changing any of our fundamental policies. If we issue preferred stock, the preferred stock would rank “senior” to common stock in our capital structure, preferred stockholders would have separate voting rights on certain matters and might have other rights, preferences or privileges more favorable than those of our common stockholders, and the issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a transaction or a change of control that might involve a premium price for holders of our common stock or otherwise be in your best interest. Holders of our common stock will directly or indirectly bear all of the costs associated with offering and servicing any preferred stock that we issue. In addition, any interests of preferred stockholders may not necessarily align with the interests of holders of our common stock and the rights of holders of shares of preferred stock to receive distributions would be senior to those of holders of shares of our common stock.

In addition, while any senior securities remain outstanding, we will be required to make provisions to prohibit any dividend distribution to our stockholders or the repurchase of such securities or shares unless we meet the applicable asset coverage ratios at the time of the dividend distribution or repurchase. We will also be permitted to borrow amounts up to 5% of the value of our total assets for temporary or emergency purposes, which borrowings would not be considered senior securities.

We may borrow money, which may magnify the potential for gain or loss and may increase the risk of investing in us.

As part of our business strategy, we issued the Notes, the Convertible Notes, and entered into the KeyBank Credit Facility through our wholly owned subsidiary, TCF, and we may borrow from and issue senior debt securities to banks, insurance companies and other lenders or investors. Holders of these senior securities or other credit facilities will have claims on our assets that are superior to the claims of our stockholders. Leverage magnifies the potential for loss on investments in our indebtedness and on invested equity capital. As we use leverage to partially finance our investments, you will experience increased risks of investing in our securities. If the value of our assets increases, then leveraging would cause the net asset value attributable to our common stock to increase more sharply than it would have had we not leveraged. Conversely, if the value of our assets decreases, leveraging would cause net asset value to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged our business. Similarly, any increase in our income in excess of interest payable on the borrowed funds would cause our net investment income to increase more than it would without the leverage, while any decrease in our income would cause net investment income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not borrowed. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to pay common stock distributions, scheduled debt payments or other payments related to our securities. Our ability to service any borrowings that we incur will depend largely on our financial performance and will be subject to prevailing economic conditions and competitive pressures. Leverage is generally considered a speculative investment technique.

See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources” for more information regarding our borrowings.

Indebtedness could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to meet our payment obligations under outstanding indebtedness.

Currently, we have secured indebtedness outstanding under the KeyBank Credit Facility and unsecured indebtedness outstanding related to the Notes and the Convertible Notes, and may incur additional indebtedness in the future. The use of debt could have significant consequences on our future operations, including:

Any of the above-listed factors could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to meet our payment obligations under the KeyBank Credit Facility, the Notes, the Convertible Notes and/or any other outstanding indebtedness we may incur in the future.

Our ability to meet our payment and other obligations under our debt instruments depends on our ability to generate significant cash flow in the future. This, to some extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors as well as other factors that are beyond our control.

We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us under our financing arrangements or otherwise in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness, including under the KeyBank Credit Facility, the Notes, the Convertible Notes and/or any other outstanding indebtedness we may incur in the future, or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness, including under the KeyBank Credit Facility, the Notes, the Convertible Notes and/or any other outstanding indebtedness we may incur in the future, on or before the scheduled maturity. The conditions of the financial markets and prevailing interest rates have fluctuated in the past and are likely to fluctuate in the future. We cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we cannot service our indebtedness, we may have to take actions such as selling assets or seeking additional equity. We cannot assure you that any such actions, if necessary, could be effected on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or on terms that would not be disadvantageous to our shareholders or on terms that would not require us to breach the terms and conditions of our existing or future debt agreements, including our payment obligations under the KeyBank Credit Facility, the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes.

Provisions in our existing and future credit facilities may limit our operations.

At our discretion, we have utilized and may continue to utilize the leverage available under the KeyBank Credit Facility for investment and operating purposes. Additionally, we may in the future enter into additional credit facilities. To the extent we borrow money to make investments, the applicable credit facility may be backed by all or a portion of our loans and securities on which the lender will have a security interest. We may pledge up to 100% of our assets and may grant a security interest in all of our assets under the terms of any debt instrument we enter into with a lender. We expect that any security interests we grant will be set forth in a pledge and security agreement and evidenced by the filing of financing statements by the agent for the lenders. In addition, we expect that the custodian for our securities serving as collateral for such loan would include in its electronic systems notices indicating the existence of such security interests and, following notice of occurrence of an event of default, if any, and during its

continuance, will only accept transfer instructions with respect to any such securities from the lenders or their designee. If we were to default under the terms of any debt instrument, the agent for the applicable lenders would be able to assume control of the timing of disposition of any or all of our assets securing such debt, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

In addition, any security interests and/or negative covenants required by any credit facility may limit our ability to create liens on assets to secure additional debt and may make it difficult for us to restructure or refinance indebtedness at or prior to maturity or obtain additional debt or equity financing. In addition, if our borrowing base under any credit facility were to decrease, we may be required to secure additional assets in an amount sufficient to cure any borrowing base deficiency. In the event that all of our assets are secured at the time of such a borrowing base deficiency, we could be required to repay advances under the credit facility or make deposits to a collection account, either of which could have a material adverse impact on our ability to fund future investments and to make distributions.

In addition, we may be subject to limitations as to how borrowed funds may be used, which may include restrictions on geographic and industry concentrations, loan size, payment frequency and status, average life, collateral interests and investment ratings, as well as regulatory restrictions on leverage which may affect the amount of funding that may be obtained. There may also be certain requirements relating to portfolio performance, including required minimum portfolio yield and limitations on delinquencies and charge-offs, a violation of which could limit further advances and, in some cases, result in an event of default. An event of default under a credit facility could result in an accelerated maturity date for all amounts outstanding thereunder, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. This could reduce our liquidity and cash flow and impair our ability to grow our business.

Any defaults under a credit facility could adversely affect our business.

In the event we default under any credit facility or other borrowings, our business could be adversely affected as we may be forced to sell a portion of our investments quickly and prematurely at what may be disadvantageous prices to us in order to meet our outstanding payment obligations and/or support working capital requirements under the credit facility, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, following any such default, the agent for the lenders under such credit facility could assume control of the disposition of any or all of our assets, including the selection of such assets to be disposed and the timing of such disposition, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We are exposed to risks associated with changes in interest rates, including the current rising interest rate environment.

In 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve began raising short-term interest rates and is expected to further increase the federal funds rate in 2023. Because we may borrow money to make investments, our net investment income will depend, in part, upon the difference between the rate at which we borrow funds and the rate at which we invest those funds. As a result, we can offer no assurance that a significant change in market interest rates will not have a material adverse effect on our net investment income. A reduction in the interest rates on new investments relative to interest rates on current investments could have an adverse impact on our net investment income. However, an increase in interest rates could decrease the value of any investments we hold which earn fixed interest rates and also could increase our interest expense, thereby decreasing our net income. Also, an increase in interest rates available to investors could make an investment in our common stock less attractive if we are not able to increase our distribution rate, which could reduce the value of our common stock. Further, rising interest rates could also adversely affect our performance if such increases cause our borrowing costs to rise at a rate in excess of the rate that our investments yield. In periods of rising interest rates, to the extent we borrow money subject to a floating interest rate, our cost of funds would increase, which could reduce our net investment income. Further, rising interest rates could also adversely affect our performance if we hold investments with floating interest rates, subject to specified minimum interest rates (such as London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) floor, as applicable), while at the same time engaging in borrowings subject to floating interest rates not subject to such minimums. In such a scenario, rising interest rates may increase our interest

expense, even though our interest income from investments is not increasing in a corresponding manner as a result of such minimum interest rates.

If general interest rates rise, there is a risk that the portfolio companies in which we hold floating rate securities will be unable to pay escalating interest amounts, which could result in a default under their loan documents with us. Rising interest rates could also cause portfolio companies to shift cash from other productive uses to the payment of interest, which may have a material adverse effect on their business and operations and could, over time, lead to increased defaults. In addition, rising interest rates may increase pressure on us to provide fixed rate loans to our portfolio companies, which could adversely affect our net investment income, as increases in our cost of borrowed funds would not be accompanied by increased interest income from such fixed-rate investments.

The elimination of LIBOR or any other changes or reforms to the determination or supervision of LIBOR could have an adverse impact on the market for or value of any LIBOR-linked securities, loans, and other financial obligations or extensions of credit held by or due to us or on our overall financial condition or results of operations. In addition, while the majority of our portfolio company debt investments are based on the Prime rate and not LIBOR, in connection with the cessation of LIBOR, we may need to renegotiate credit agreements extending beyond 2022 with our portfolio companies that utilize LIBOR, if any, to provide for an alternative reference rate, to the extent they do not already provide for as much upon the cessation of LIBOR, which may have an adverse effect on our overall financial condition or results of operations. Furthermore, our borrowings under the KeyBank Credit Facility generally bear interest at a rate related to LIBOR, but its terms provide for the replacement of LIBOR with SOFR no later than July 1, 2023 or the date that the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) permanently or indefinitely ceases to provide LIBOR rates, if earlier. In addition, the transition from LIBOR to SOFR or other alternative reference rates may also introduce operational risks in our accounting, financial reporting, loan servicing, liability management and other aspects of our business. We are assessing the impact of a transition from LIBOR; however, we cannot reasonably estimate the impact of the transition at this time.

If we do not invest a sufficient portion of our assets in qualifying assets, we could fail to qualify as a BDC, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As a BDC, we may not acquire any assets other than “qualifying assets” unless, at the time of and after giving effect to such acquisition, at least 70% of our total assets are qualifying assets. We believe that most of the investments that we may acquire in the future will constitute qualifying assets. However, we may be precluded from investing in what we believe are attractive investments if such investments are not qualifying assets for purposes of the 1940 Act. If we do not invest a sufficient portion of our assets in qualifying assets, we could violate the 1940 Act provisions applicable to BDCs. As a result of such violation, specific rules under the 1940 Act could prevent us, for example, from making follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies which could result in the dilution of our position or could require us to dispose of investments at inappropriate times in order to come into compliance with the 1940 Act. If we need to dispose of investments quickly, it could be difficult to dispose of such investments on favorable terms. We may not be able to find a buyer for such investments and, even if we do find a buyer, we may have to sell the investments at a substantial loss. Any such outcomes would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Most or a substantial portion of our portfolio investments will be recorded at fair values determined in good faith by the Board and, as a result, there may be uncertainty as to the value of our portfolio investments.

Under the 1940 Act, we are required to carry our portfolio investments at market value or, if there is no readily available market value, at fair value as determined by the Board. Most or a substantial portion of our portfolio investments may take the form of securities that are not publicly traded. The fair value of securities and other investments that are not publicly traded may not be readily determinable, and we value these securities at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board, including to reflect significant events affecting the value of our securities. As part of the valuation process, we may take into account the following types of factors, if relevant, in determining the fair value of our investments:

We expect that most of our investments (other than cash and cash equivalents) will be classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy and require disclosures about the level of disaggregation along with the inputs and valuation techniques we use to measure fair value. This means that our portfolio valuations are based on unobservable inputs and our own assumptions about how market participants would price the asset or liability in question. Inputs into the determination of fair value of our portfolio investments require significant management judgment or estimation. Even if observable market data is available, such information may be the result of consensus pricing information or broker quotes, which include a disclaimer that the broker would not be held to such a price in an actual transaction. The non-binding nature of consensus pricing and/or quotes accompanied by disclaimers materially reduces the reliability of such information. We employ the services of one or more independent service providers to review the valuation of these securities. The types of factors that the Board may take into account in determining the fair value of our investments generally include, as appropriate, comparison to publicly traded securities including such factors as yield, maturity and measures of credit quality, the enterprise value of a portfolio company, the nature and realizable value of any collateral, the portfolio company’s ability to make payments and its earnings and discounted cash flow, the markets in which the portfolio company does business and other relevant factors. Because such valuations, and particularly valuations of private securities and private companies, are inherently uncertain, may fluctuate over short periods of time and may be based on estimates, our determinations of fair value may differ materially from the values that would have been used if a ready market for these securities existed. Due to this uncertainty in the value of our portfolio investments, a fair value determination may cause net asset value on a given date to materially understate or overstate the value that we may ultimately realize upon one or more of our investments. As a result, investors purchasing shares of our common stock based on an overstated net asset value would pay a higher price than the value of the investments might warrant. Conversely, investors selling shares during a period in which the net asset value understates the value of investments will receive a lower price for their shares than the value the investment portfolio might warrant.

We will adjust quarterly the valuation of our portfolio to reflect the determination of the Board of the fair value of each investment in our portfolio. Any changes in fair value are recorded in our statements of operations as net change in unrealized gain (loss) on investments.

We may incur lender liability as a result of our lending activities.

In recent years, a number of judicial decisions have upheld the right of borrowers and others to sue lending institutions on the basis of various evolving legal theories, collectively termed “lender liability.” Generally, lender liability is founded on the premise that a lender has either violated a duty, whether implied or contractual, of good faith and fair dealing owed to the borrower or has assumed a degree of control over the borrower resulting in the creation of a fiduciary duty owed to the borrower or its other creditors or stockholders. As a result, we could be subject to lender liability, claims for actions taken by us with respect to a portfolio company’s business or instances where we exercise control over the portfolio company, including as a result of actions taken in rendering significant managerial assistance to the portfolio company or actions to compel and collect payments from the portfolio company outside of the ordinary course of business. Lender liability claims can be time-consuming and expensive to defend and result in significant liability.

Our investment strategy focuses on growth stage companies, which are subject to many risks, including dependence on the need to raise additional capital, volatility, intense competition, shortened product life cycles,

changes in regulatory and governmental programs, periodic downturns, below investment grade ratings, which could cause you to lose all or part of your investment in us.

We invest primarily in growth stage companies, many of which may have narrow product lines and small market shares, which tend to render them more vulnerable to competitors’ actions and market conditions, as well as to general economic downturns, compared to more mature companies. The revenues, income (or losses), and projected financial performance and valuations of growth stage companies can and often do fluctuate suddenly and dramatically. For these reasons, investments in our portfolio companies, if rated by one or more ratings agency, would typically be rated below “investment grade,” which refers to securities rated by ratings agencies below the four highest rating categories. Our target growth stage companies are geographically concentrated and are therefore highly susceptible to materially negative local, political, natural and economic events. In addition, high growth industries are generally characterized by abrupt business cycles and intense competition. Overcapacity in high growth industries, together with cyclical economic downturns, may result in substantial decreases in the value of many growth stage companies and/or their ability to meet their current and projected financial performance to service our debt. Furthermore, growth stage companies also typically rely on venture capital and private equity investors, or initial public offerings, or sales for additional capital.

Venture capital firms in turn rely on their limited partners to pay in capital over time in order to fund their ongoing and future investment activities. To the extent that venture capital firms’ limited partners are unable or choose not to fulfill their ongoing funding obligations, the venture capital firms may be unable to continue operationally and/or financially supporting the ongoing operations of our portfolio companies which could materially and adversely impact our financing arrangement with the portfolio company.

These companies, their industries, their products and customer demand and the outlook and competitive landscape for their industries are all subject to change, which could adversely impact their ability to execute their business plans and generate cash flow or raise additional capital that would serve as the basis for repayment of our loans. Therefore, our growth stage companies may face considerably more risk of loss than do companies at other stages of development.

The equipment financing industry is highly competitive and competitive forces could adversely affect the financing rates and resale prices that we may realize on our equipment financing investment portfolio and the prices that we have to pay to acquire our investments.

As part of our investment strategy, we engage in equipment financing, through which we finance equipment to growth stage companies. Equipment manufacturers, corporations, partnerships and others offer users an alternative to the purchase of most types of equipment with payment terms that vary widely depending on the type of financing, the lease or loan term and the type of equipment. In seeking equipment financing transactions, we will compete with financial institutions, manufacturers and public and private leasing companies, many of which may have greater financial resources than us.

Some types of equipment are under special government regulation which may make the equipment more costly to acquire, own, maintain under equipment financings and sell.

The use, maintenance and ownership of certain types of equipment are regulated by federal, state and/or local authorities. Regulations may impose restrictions and financial burdens on our ownership and operation of equipment. Changes in government regulations, industry standards or deregulation may also affect the ownership, operation and resale value of equipment. For example, certain types of equipment are subject to extensive safety and operating regulations imposed by government and/or industry self- regulatory organizations which may make these types of equipment more costly to acquire, own, maintain under equipment financings and sell. These agencies or organizations may require changes or improvements to equipment, and we may have to spend our own capital to comply. These changes may also require the equipment to be removed from service for a period of time. The terms of equipment financings may provide for payment reductions if the equipment must remain out of service for an extended period or is removed from service. We may then have reduced operating revenues from equipment financings for these items of equipment. If we did not have the capital to make a required change, we might be required to sell the affected equipment or to sell other items of its equipment in order to obtain the necessary cash; in

either event, we could suffer a loss on our investment and might lose future revenues, and we might also have adverse tax consequences.

We are subject to risks inherent in the equipment financing business that may adversely affect our ability to finance our portfolio on terms that will permit us to generate profitable rates of return for investors.

A number of economic conditions and market factors, many of which we cannot control, could threaten our ability to operate profitably. These include changes in economic conditions, including fluctuations in demand for equipment, interest rates and inflation rates; the timing of purchases and the ability to forecast technological advances for equipment; technological and economic obsolescence; and increases in our expenses.

Demand for equipment fluctuates, and periods of weak demand could adversely affect equipment financing rates and resale prices that we may realize on our investment portfolio while periods of high demand could adversely affect the prices that we have to pay to acquire our investments. Such fluctuations in demand could therefore adversely affect the ability of a leasing program to invest its capital in a timely and profitable manner.

Equipment lessors have experienced a more difficult market in which to make suitable investments during historical periods of reduced growth and recession in the U.S. economy as a result of the softening demand for capital equipment during these periods. An economic recession resulting in lower levels of capital expenditure by businesses may result in more used equipment becoming available on the market and downward pressure on prices and equipment financing rates due to excess inventory. Periods of low interest rates exert downward pressure on equipment financing rates and may result in less demand for equipment financings. Furthermore, a decline in corporate expansion or demand for capital goods could delay investment of our capital, and its production of financing revenues. There can be no assurance as to what future developments may occur in the economy in general or in the demand for equipment and other asset-based financing in particular.

Global economic, political and market conditions, including uncertainty about the financial stability of the United States, could have a significant adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Downgrades by rating agencies to the U.S. government’s credit rating or concerns about its credit and deficit levels in general could cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may negatively impact both the perception of credit risk associated with our debt portfolio and our ability to access the debt markets on favorable terms. In addition, a decreased U.S. government credit rating could create broader financial turmoil and uncertainty, which may weigh heavily on our financial performance and the value of our common stock.

Deterioration in the economic conditions in the Eurozone and other regions or countries globally and the resulting instability in global financial markets may pose a risk to our business. Financial markets have been affected at times by a number of global macroeconomic events, including the following: large sovereign debts and fiscal deficits of several countries in Europe and in emerging markets jurisdictions, levels of non‑performing loans on the balance sheets of European banks, the effect of the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) leaving the European Union (the “EU”), instability in the Chinese capital markets and the COVID-19 pandemic. Global market and economic disruptions have affected, and may in the future affect, the U.S. capital markets, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We cannot assure you that market disruptions in Europe and other regions or countries, including the increased cost of funding for certain governments and financial institutions, will not impact the global economy, and we cannot assure you that assistance packages will be available, or if available, be sufficient to stabilize countries and markets in Europe or elsewhere affected by a financial crisis. To the extent uncertainty regarding any economic recovery in Europe or elsewhere negatively impacts consumer confidence and consumer credit factors, our and our portfolio companies’ business, financial condition and results of operations could be significantly and adversely affected. Moreover, there is a risk of both sector-specific and broad-based corrections and/or downturns in the equity and credit markets. Any of the foregoing could have a significant impact on the markets in which we operate and could have a material adverse impact on our business prospects and financial condition.

Various social and political circumstances in the United States and around the world (including wars and other forms of conflict, terrorist acts, security operations and catastrophic events such as fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and global health epidemics), may also contribute to increased market volatility and economic uncertainties or deterioration in the United States and worldwide. Such events, including rising trade tensions between the United States and China, other uncertainties regarding actual and potential shifts in U.S. and foreign, trade, economic and other policies with other countries, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. These market and economic disruptions could negatively impact the operating results of our portfolio companies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruptions in the global economy, including supply chain disruptions, and has disrupted financial activity in the areas in which we or our portfolio companies operate.

The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictive measures taken to contain or mitigate its spread have caused business shutdowns, cancellations of events and restrictions on travel, significant reductions in demand for certain goods and services, reductions in business activity and financial transactions, supply chain interruptions and overall economic and financial market instability both globally and in the United States.

Despite actions of the U.S. federal government and foreign governments, these events have contributed to unpredictable general economic conditions that are materially and adversely impacting the broader financial and credit markets and reducing the availability of debt and equity capital for the market as a whole. It is uncertain how long this volatility will continue, and as a result, even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the U.S. economy and most other major global economies may continue to experience a recession. Our business and operations, as well as the business and operations of our portfolio companies, could be materially adversely affected by a prolonged recession in the United States and other major markets. Some economists and major investment banks have expressed concern that the continued spread of the virus globally could lead to a world-wide economic downturn, the impacts of which could last for some period after the pandemic is controlled and/or abated.

The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing as of the filing date of this Annual Report, and its extended duration may have further adverse impacts on us and our portfolio companies after December 31, 2022.

Any public health emergency, including the COVID-19 pandemic or any outbreak of other existing or new epidemic diseases, or the threat thereof, and the resulting financial and economic market uncertainty could have a significant adverse impact on us and the fair value of our investments and our portfolio companies.

The extent of the impact of any public health emergency, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on our and our portfolio companies’ operational and financial performance will depend on many factors, including the duration and scope of such public health emergency, the actions taken by governmental authorities to contain its financial and economic impact, the extent of any related travel advisories and restrictions implemented, the impact of such public health emergency on overall supply and demand, goods and services, investor liquidity, consumer confidence and levels of economic activity and the extent of its disruption to important global, regional and local supply chains and economic markets, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. In addition, our and our portfolio companies’ operations may be significantly impacted, or even temporarily or permanently halted, as a result of government quarantine measures, voluntary and precautionary restrictions on travel or meetings and other factors related to a public health emergency, including its potential adverse impact on the health of any of our or our portfolio companies’ personnel. This could create widespread business continuity issues for us and our portfolio companies.

These factors may also cause the valuation of our investments to differ materially from the values that we may ultimately realize. Our valuations, and particularly valuations of private investments and private companies, are inherently uncertain, may fluctuate over short periods of time and are often based on estimates, comparisons and qualitative evaluations of private information. As a result, our valuations may not show the completed or continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting measures taken in response thereto. Any public health emergency, including the COVID-19 pandemic or any outbreak of other existing or new epidemic diseases, or the threat thereof, and the resulting financial and economic market uncertainty could have a significant adverse impact on us and the fair value of our investments and our portfolio companies.

Economic recessions or downturns could impair our portfolio companies and harm our operating results.

Some of our portfolio companies may be susceptible to economic slowdowns or recessions and may be unable to repay our debt investments during periods of economic recession or downturn. In the past, instability in the global capital markets resulted in disruptions in liquidity in the debt capital markets, significant write-offs in the financial services sector, the re-pricing of credit risk in the broadly syndicated credit market and the failure of major domestic and international financial institutions. In particular, in past periods of instability, the financial services sector was negatively impacted by significant write-offs as the value of the assets held by financial firms declined, impairing their capital positions and abilities to lend and invest. In addition, continued uncertainty surrounding the negotiation of trade deals between the United Kingdom and the European Union following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union and uncertainty between the United States and other countries, including China, with respect to trade policies, treaties, and tariffs, among other factors, have caused disruption in the global markets. There can be no assurance that market conditions will not worsen in the future.

In an economic downturn, we may have non-performing assets or non-performing assets may increase, and the value of our portfolio is likely to decrease during these periods. Adverse economic conditions may also decrease the value of any collateral securing our loans. A severe recession may further decrease the value of such collateral and result in losses of value in our portfolio and a decrease in our revenues, net income, assets and net worth. Unfavorable economic conditions also could increase our funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us on terms we deem acceptable. These events could prevent us from increasing investments and harm our operating results.

The occurrence of recessionary conditions and/or negative developments in the domestic and international credit markets may significantly affect the markets in which we do business, the value of our investments, and our ongoing operations, costs and profitability. Any such unfavorable economic conditions, including rising interest rates, may also increase our funding costs, limit our access to capital markets or negatively impact our ability to obtain financing, particularly from the debt markets. In addition, any future financial market uncertainty could lead to financial market disruptions and could further impact our ability to obtain financing. These events could limit our investment originations, limit our ability to grow and negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.

Our investments are geographically concentrated, which may result in a single occurrence in a particular geographic area having a disproportionate negative impact on our investment portfolio.

Investments in a particular geographic region may be particularly susceptible to economic conditions and regulatory requirements. To the extent our investments are concentrated in a particular region or group of regions, our investment portfolio may be more volatile than a more geographically investment portfolio. Any deterioration in the economy, or adverse events in such regions, may increase the rate of delinquency and default experience (and as a consequence, losses) with respect to our investments in such region. Our investments are geographically concentrated in the Western and Northeastern part of the United States. As result, we may be more susceptible to being adversely affected by any single occurrence in those regions.

For example, portfolio companies in California may be particularly susceptible to certain types of hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, mudslides, wildfires and other national disasters, which could have a negative impact on their business and negatively impact such company’s ability to meet their obligations under their debt securities that we hold. Additionally, adverse economic conditions or other factors particularly affecting a specific region could increase the risk of loss on our investments.

Our investments in leveraged portfolio companies may be risky, and we could lose all or part of our investment.

Investment in leveraged companies involves a number of significant risks. Leveraged companies in which we invest may have limited financial resources and may be unable to meet their obligations under their debt securities that we hold. Such developments may be accompanied by a deterioration in the value of any collateral and a reduction in the likelihood of our realizing any guarantees that we may have obtained in connection with our investment. In addition, our junior secured loans are generally subordinated to senior loans. As such, other creditors may rank senior to us in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy or liquidation.

In addition, investing in small, fast-growing, private companies involves a number of significant risks, including the following:

Our investments are very risky and highly speculative.

We invest primarily in secured loans and select equity and equity-related investments issued by, and provide equipment financing to, small, fast-growing private companies. We invest primarily in secured loans made to companies whose debt has generally not been rated by any rating agency, although we would expect such debt, if rated, to fall below investment grade. Securities rated below investment grade are often referred to as “high yield” securities and “junk bonds,” and are considered “high risk” and speculative in nature compared to debt instruments that are rated above investment grade because of the credit risk of the issuers. Such issuers are more likely than investment grade issuers to default on their payments of interest and principal owed to us, and such defaults could have a material adverse effect on our performance.

Generally, little public information exists about the types of companies in which we invest, and we are required to rely on the ability of our senior management team and investment professionals to obtain adequate information to evaluate the potential returns from investing in these companies. If we are unable to uncover all material information about these companies, we may not make a fully informed investment decision, and we may lose money on our investments. Also, privately held companies frequently have less diverse product lines and smaller market presence than larger competitors. These factors could adversely affect our investment returns as compared to companies investing primarily in the securities of public companies.

Senior Secured Loans. There is a risk that the collateral securing our loans may decrease in value over time, may be difficult to sell in a timely manner, may be difficult to appraise and may fluctuate in value based upon the success of the business and market conditions, including as a result of the inability of the portfolio company to raise additional capital. In some circumstances, our liens on the collateral securing our loans could be subordinated to claims of other creditors. In addition, deterioration in a portfolio company’s financial condition and prospects, including its inability to raise additional capital, may be accompanied by deterioration in the value of the collateral for the loan. The fact that a loan is secured does not guarantee that we will receive principal and interest payments according to the loan’s terms, or at all, or that we will be able to collect on the loan should we be compelled to enforce our remedies. Further, no active trading market may exist or be maintained for certain senior secured loans. Illiquidity and adverse market conditions may mean that we may not be able to sell senior secured loans quickly or at a fair price. To the extent that a secondary market does exist for certain senior secured loans, the market for them may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods.

Second Lien Secured Loans. In structuring our loans, we may subordinate our security interest in certain assets of a borrower to another lender, usually a bank, such that we hold a second lien secured loan. In these situations, all of the risks identified above regarding senior secured loans would be present and additional risks inherent in holding a junior security position would also be present, including that our second lien secured loans generally would be subordinated to senior loans and other creditors may rank senior to us in the event of default, insolvency or liquidation. In addition, these securities may not be protected by all of the financial covenants, such as limitations upon additional indebtedness, typically protecting such senior debt. In the event a portfolio company cannot generate adequate cash flow to meet senior debt service, we may suffer a partial or total loss of our investment in a second lien secured loan.

Equity and Equity-Related Investments. When we invest in secured loans, we may acquire equity and equity-related securities as well. In addition, we may invest directly in the equity and equity-related securities of portfolio companies. The equity and equity-related interests we receive may not appreciate in value and may in fact decline in value. Accordingly, we may not be able to realize gains from our equity and equity-related interests, and any gains that we do realize on the disposition of any equity and equity-related interests may not be sufficient to offset any other losses we experience.

We may be subject to risks associated with our investments in covenant-lite loans.

We have invested in and may in the future invest in or obtain significant exposure to covenant-lite loans, which means the obligations contain fewer maintenance covenants than other obligations, or no maintenance covenants, and may not include terms that allow the lender to monitor the financial performance of the borrower, including financial ratios, and declare a default if certain financial criteria are breached. While these loans may still contain other collateral protections, a covenant-lite loan may carry more risk than a covenant-heavy loan made by the same borrower as it does not require the borrower to provide affirmation that certain specific financial tests have been satisfied on a routine basis as is generally required under a covenant-heavy loan agreement. Generally, covenant-lite loans provide borrowers more freedom to negatively impact lenders because their covenants, if any, tend to be incurrence-based, which means they are only tested and can only be breached following an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. Our investment in or exposure to a covenant-lite loan may potentially hinder our ability to reprice credit risk associated with the issuer and reduce our ability to restructure a problematic loan and mitigate potential loss. As a result, our exposure to losses may be increased, which could result in an adverse impact on our revenues, net income and net asset value.

Second priority liens on collateral securing loans that we make to our portfolio companies may be subject to control by senior creditors with first priority liens. If there is a default, the value of the collateral may not be sufficient to repay in full both the first priority creditors and us.

Certain loans that we make are secured by a second priority security interest in the same collateral pledged by a portfolio company to secure senior debt owed by the portfolio company to commercial banks or other traditional lenders. Often the senior lender has procured covenants from the portfolio company prohibiting the incurrence of additional secured debt without the senior lender’s consent. Prior to and as a condition of permitting the portfolio company to borrow money from us secured by the same collateral pledged to the senior lender, the senior lender will require assurances that it will control the disposition of any collateral in the event of bankruptcy or other default. In many such cases, the senior lender will require us to enter into an intercreditor agreement prior to permitting the portfolio company to borrow from us. Typically the intercreditor agreements we will be requested to execute will expressly subordinate our debt instruments to those held by the senior lender and further provide that the senior lender shall control: (1) the commencement of foreclosure or other proceedings to liquidate and collect on the collateral; (2) the nature, timing, and conduct of foreclosure or other collection proceedings; (3) the amendment of any collateral document; (4) the release of the security interests in respect of any collateral; and (5) the waiver of defaults under any security agreement. Because of the control we may cede to senior lenders under intercreditor agreements we may enter, we may be unable to realize the proceeds of any collateral securing some of our loans.

If the assets securing the loans that we make decrease in value, then we may lack sufficient collateral to cover losses.

There is a risk that the collateral securing our secured loans may decrease in value over time, may be difficult to sell in a timely manner, may be difficult to appraise, may be liquidated at a price lower than what we consider to be fair value and may fluctuate in value based upon the success of the business and market conditions, including as a result of the inability of a borrower to raise additional capital, which could materially and adversely affect our ability to recover our investment.

In addition, a substantial portion of the assets securing our investment may be in the form of intellectual property, inventory and equipment and, to a lesser extent, cash and accounts receivable. Intellectual property, if any, that is securing our loan could lose value if, among other things, the borrower’s rights to the intellectual property are challenged or if the borrower’s license to the intellectual property is revoked or expires. Inventory may not be adequate to secure our loan if our valuation of the inventory at the time that we made the loan was not accurate or if there is a reduction in the demand for the inventory.

Similarly, any equipment securing our loan may not provide us with the anticipated security if there are changes in technology or advances in new equipment that render the particular equipment obsolete or of limited value, or if the borrower fails to adequately maintain or repair the equipment. The residual value of the equipment at the time we would take possession may not be sufficient to satisfy the outstanding debt and we could experience a loss on the disposition of the equipment. Any one or more of the preceding factors could materially impair our ability to recover our investment in a foreclosure.

Our portfolio companies may incur debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, our investments in such companies.

Although our investments are primarily secured, some investments may be unsecured and subordinated to substantive amounts of senior indebtedness. The portfolio companies in which we invest usually have, or may be permitted to incur, other debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, the debt securities in which we invest. By their terms, such debt instruments may provide that the holders are entitled to receive payment of interest or principal on or before the dates on which we are entitled to receive payments in respect of the debt securities in which we invest. Also, in the event of insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of a portfolio company, holders of debt instruments ranking senior to our investment in that portfolio company would typically be entitled to receive payment in full before we receive any distribution in respect of our investment. After paying senior creditors, the portfolio company may not have any remaining assets to use for repaying its obligation to us. In the case of debt ranking equally with debt securities in which we invest, we would have to share any distributions on an equal and ratable basis with other creditors holding such debt in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of the relevant portfolio company.

Additionally, certain loans that we make to portfolio companies may be secured on a second-priority basis by the same collateral securing senior secured debt of such companies. The first-priority liens on the collateral will secure the portfolio company’s obligations under any outstanding senior debt and may secure certain other future debt that may be permitted to be incurred by the portfolio company under the agreements governing the loans. The holders of obligations secured by first-priority liens on the collateral will generally control the liquidation of, and be entitled to receive proceeds from, any realization of the collateral to repay their obligations in full before us. In addition, the value of the collateral in the event of liquidation will depend on market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and other factors. There can be no assurance that the proceeds, if any, from sales of all of the collateral would be sufficient to satisfy the loan obligations secured by the second-priority liens after payment in full of all obligations secured by the first-priority liens on the collateral. If such proceeds were not sufficient to repay amounts outstanding under the loan obligations secured by the second-priority liens, then, to the extent not repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the collateral, we will only have an unsecured claim against the portfolio company’s remaining assets, if any.

The rights we may have with respect to the collateral securing the loans we make to our portfolio companies with senior debt outstanding may also be limited pursuant to the terms of one or more intercreditor agreements that we enter into with the holders of such senior debt, including in unitranche transactions. Under a typical intercreditor

agreement, at any time that obligations that have the benefit of the first-priority liens are outstanding, any of the following actions that may be taken in respect of the collateral will be at the direction of the holders of the obligations secured by the first-priority liens:

• the ability to cause the commencement of enforcement proceedings against the collateral;

• the ability to control the conduct of such proceedings;

• the approval of amendments to collateral documents;

• releases of liens on the collateral; and

• waivers of past defaults under collateral documents.

We may not have the ability to control or direct such actions, even if our rights are adversely affected. In addition, a bankruptcy court may choose not to enforce an intercreditor agreement or other agreement with creditors.

We may also make unsecured loans to portfolio companies, meaning that such loans will not benefit from any interest in collateral of such companies. Liens on such portfolio companies’ collateral, if any, will secure the portfolio company’s obligations under its outstanding secured debt and may secure certain future debt that is permitted to be incurred by the portfolio company under its secured loan agreements. The holders of obligations secured by such liens will generally control the liquidation of, and be entitled to receive proceeds from, any realization of such collateral to repay their obligations in full before us. In addition, the value of such collateral in the event of liquidation will depend on market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and other factors. There can be no assurance that the proceeds, if any, from sales of such collateral would be sufficient to satisfy our unsecured loan obligations after payment in full of all secured loan obligations. If such proceeds were not sufficient to repay the outstanding secured loan obligations, then our unsecured claims would rank equally with the unpaid portion of such secured creditors’ claims against the portfolio company’s remaining assets, if any.

We may also make subordinated investments that rank below other obligations of the obligor in right of payment. Subordinated investments are generally more volatile than secured loans and are subject to greater risk of default than senior obligations as a result of adverse changes in the financial condition of the obligor or in general economic conditions. If we make a subordinated investment in a portfolio company, the portfolio company may be highly leveraged, and its relatively high loan-to-value ratio may create increased risks that its operations might not generate sufficient cash flow to service all of its debt obligations.

Our portfolio may be exposed in part to one or more specific industries, which may subject us to a risk of significant loss in a particular investment or investments if there is a downturn in that particular industry.

Our portfolio may be exposed in part to one or more specific industries. A downturn in any particular industry in which we are invested could significantly impact the aggregate returns we realize. If an industry in which we have significant investments suffers from adverse business or economic conditions, as these industries have to varying degrees, a material portion of our investment portfolio could be affected adversely, which, in turn, could adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.

For example, as of December 31, 2022, our largest industry concentrations of our total investments at fair value were in the green technology industry, which represented approximately 14.0%; and technology-related companies in the finance and insurance industry, which represented approximately 10.4%. Therefore, we are susceptible to the economic circumstances and market conditions in these industries, and a downturn in one or more of these industries could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Our investments in the green technology industry, including sustainable and renewable technologies, may be subject to certain risks, including risks related to extensive regulation by foreign, U.S. federal, state and/or local agencies. Changes in existing laws, rules or regulations, or judicial or administrative interpretations thereof, new laws, rules or regulations, or changes in government priorities or limitations on government resources could all have an adverse impact on the business and industries of these companies. We are unable to predict whether any such changes in laws, rules or regulations will occur and, if they do occur, the impact of these changes on our portfolio

companies and our investment returns. Furthermore, if any of our portfolio companies fail to comply with applicable regulations, they could be subject to significant penalties and claims that could materially and adversely affect their operations, which would also impact our ability to realize value since our exit from the investment may be subject to the portfolio company obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. Our portfolio companies may be subject to the expense, delay and uncertainty of the regulatory approval process for their products and, even if approved, these products may not be accepted in the marketplace. Further, industries within the energy sector are cyclical with fluctuations in commodity prices, and demand for and production of commodities is driven by a variety of factors. The highly cyclical nature of the industries within the energy sector may lead to volatile changes in commodity prices. Commodity price fluctuation may adversely affect the earnings of companies in which we may invest. The value of our investments in our portfolio companies may decline if they are not able to commercialize their technology, products, business concepts or services. See “If our portfolio companies are unable to commercialize their technologies, products, business concepts or services, the returns on our investments could be adversely affected.” for additional risks related to investments in technology companies, including green technology.

We may invest in technology-related companies that do not have venture capital or private equity firms as equity investors, and these companies may entail a higher risk of loss than do companies with institutional equity investors, which could increase the risk of loss of our investment.

Our portfolio companies may require substantial additional equity financing to satisfy their continuing working capital and other cash requirements and, in most instances, to service the interest and principal payments on our investment. Portfolio companies that do not have venture capital or private equity investors may be unable to raise any additional capital to satisfy their obligations or to raise sufficient additional capital to reach the next stage of development. Portfolio companies that do not have venture capital or private equity investors may be less financially sophisticated and may not have access to independent members to serve on their boards, which means that they may be less successful than portfolio companies sponsored by venture capital or private equity firms. Accordingly, financing these types of companies may entail a higher risk of loss than would financing companies that are sponsored by venture capital or private equity firms.

We may invest through joint ventures.

We plan to hold a portion of our investments through our joint venture, i40, LLC and may, from time to time, hold a portion of our investments through partnerships, joint ventures, securitization vehicles or other entities with third-party investors (collectively, “joint ventures”). Joint venture investments involve various risks, including the risk that we will not be able to implement investment decisions or exit strategies because of limitations on our control under applicable agreements with joint venture partners, the risk that a joint venture partner may become bankrupt or may at any time have economic or business interests or goals that are inconsistent with ours, the risk that a joint venture partner may be in a position to take action contrary to our objectives, the risk of liability based upon the actions of a joint venture partner and the risk of disputes or litigation with such partner and the inability to enforce fully all rights (or the incurrence of additional risk in connection with enforcement of rights) one partner may have against the other, including in connection with foreclosure on partner loans, because of risks arising under state law. In addition, we may, in certain cases, be liable for actions of our joint venture partners. The joint ventures in which we participate may sometimes be allocated investment opportunities that might have otherwise gone entirely to us, which may reduce our return on equity. Additionally, our joint venture investments may be held on an unconsolidated basis and at times may be highly leveraged. Such leverage would not count toward the investment limits imposed on us by the 1940 Act.

We are subject to risks associated with investing alongside other third parties.

We have invested in i40, LLC and may in the future invest in additional joint ventures alongside third parties through joint ventures, partnerships or other entities. Such investments may involve risks not present in investments where a third party is not involved, including the possibility that such third party may at any time have economic or business interests or goals which are inconsistent with ours, or may be in a position to take action contrary to our investment objectives. In addition, we may in certain circumstances be liable for actions of such third party.

More specifically, joint ventures involve a third party that has approval rights over activity of the joint venture. The third party may take actions that are inconsistent with our interests. For example, the third party may

decline to approve an investment for the joint venture that we otherwise want the joint venture to make. A joint venture may also use investment leverage which magnifies the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested. Generally, the amount of borrowing by the joint venture is not included when calculating our total borrowing and related leverage ratios and is not subject to asset coverage requirements imposed by the 1940 Act. If the activities of the joint venture were required to be consolidated with our activities because of a change in rules governing U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") or SEC staff interpretations, it is likely that we would have to reorganize any such joint venture.

Our relationship with certain portfolio companies may expose us to our portfolio companies’ trade secrets and confidential information which may require us to be parties to non-disclosure agreements and restrict us from engaging in certain transactions.

Our relationship with some of our portfolio companies may expose us to our portfolio companies’ trade secrets and confidential information (including transactional data and personal data about their employees and clients) which may require us to be parties to non-disclosure agreements and restrict us from engaging in certain transactions. Unauthorized access or disclosure of such information may occur, resulting in theft, loss or other misappropriation. Any theft, loss, improper use, such as insider trading or other misappropriation of confidential information could have a material adverse impact on our competitive positions, our relationship with our portfolio companies and our reputation and could subject us to regulatory inquiries, enforcement and fines, civil litigation (which may cause us to incur significant expense or expose us to losses) and possible financial liability or costs.

Our investments in portfolio companies may expose us to environmental risks.

We may invest in portfolio companies that are subject to changing and increasingly stringent environmental and health and safety laws, regulations and permit requirements and environmental costs that could place increasing financial burdens on such portfolio entities. Required expenditures for environmental compliance may adversely impact investment returns on portfolio companies. The imposition of new environmental and other laws, regulations and initiatives could adversely affect the business operations and financial stability of such portfolio companies.

There can be no guarantee that all costs and risks regarding compliance with environmental laws and regulations can be identified. New and more stringent environmental and health and safety laws, regulations and permit requirements or stricter interpretations of current laws or regulations could impose substantial additional costs on our portfolio companies. Compliance with such current or future environmental requirements does not ensure that the operations of the portfolio companies will not cause injury to the environment or to people under all circumstances or that the portfolio companies will not be required to incur additional unforeseen environmental expenditures. Moreover, failure to comply with any such requirements could have a material adverse effect on a portfolio company, and we can offer no assurance that any such portfolio companies will at all times comply with all applicable environmental laws, regulations and permit requirements.

The majority of our portfolio companies will need multiple rounds of additional financing to repay their debts to us and continue operations. Our portfolio companies may not be able to raise additional financing, which could harm our investment returns.

The majority of our portfolio companies will often require substantial additional equity financing to satisfy their continuing working capital and other cash requirements and, in most instances, to service the interest and principal payments on our investment. Each round of venture financing is typically intended to provide a company with only enough capital to reach the next stage of development. We cannot predict the circumstances or market conditions under which our portfolio companies will seek additional capital. It is possible that one or more of our portfolio companies will not be able to raise additional financing or may be able to do so only at a price or on terms unfavorable to us, either of which would negatively impact our investment returns. Some of these companies may be unable to obtain sufficient financing from private investors, public capital markets or traditional lenders. This may have a significant impact if the companies are unable to obtain certain federal, state or foreign agency approval for their products or the marketing thereof, of if regulatory review processes extend longer than anticipated, and the companies need continued funding for their operations during these times. Accordingly, financing these types of companies may entail a higher risk of loss than would financing companies that are able to utilize traditional credit sources.

If our portfolio companies are unable to commercialize their technologies, products, business concepts or services, the returns on our investments could be adversely affected.

The value of our investments in our portfolio companies may decline if they are not able to commercialize their technology, products, business concepts or services. Additionally, although some of our portfolio companies may already have a commercially successful product or product line at the time of our investment, information technology, e-commerce, life science, and energy technology-related products and services often have a more limited market or life span than products in other industries. Thus, the ultimate success of these companies often depends on their ability to continually innovate in increasingly competitive markets. If they are unable to do so, our investment returns could be adversely affected and their ability to service their debt obligations to us over the term of the loan could be impaired. Our portfolio companies may be unable to acquire or develop any new products successfully, and the intellectual property they currently hold may not remain viable. Even if our portfolio companies are able to develop commercially viable products, the market for new products and services is highly competitive and rapidly changing. Neither our portfolio companies nor we will have any control over the pace of technology development. Commercial success is difficult to predict, and the marketing efforts of our portfolio companies may not be successful.

If our portfolio companies are unable to protect their intellectual property rights, our business and prospects could be harmed, and if portfolio companies are required to devote significant resources to protecting their intellectual property rights, the value of our investment could be reduced.

Our future success and competitive position will depend in part upon the ability of our portfolio companies to obtain, maintain and protect proprietary technology used in their products and services. Our portfolio companies will rely, in part, on patent, trade secret, and trademark law to protect that technology, but competitors may misappropriate their intellectual property, and disputes as to ownership of intellectual property may arise. Portfolio companies may, from time to time, be required to institute litigation to enforce their patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights; protect their trade secrets; determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others; or defend against claims of infringement. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. Similarly, if a portfolio company is found to infringe or misappropriate a third-party’s patent or other proprietary rights, it could be required to pay damages to the third-party, alter its products or processes, obtain a license from the third-party, and/or cease activities utilizing the proprietary rights, including making or selling products utilizing the proprietary rights. Any of the foregoing events could negatively affect both the portfolio company’s ability to service our debt investment and the value of any related debt and equity securities that we own, as well as any collateral securing our investment.

The lack of liquidity in our investments may adversely affect our business.

All or a substantial portion of our assets may be invested in illiquid securities, and a substantial portion of our investments in leveraged companies will be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or will otherwise be less liquid than more broadly traded public securities. The illiquidity of these investments may make it difficult for us to sell such investments when desired. In addition, if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we have previously recorded these investments. As a result, we do not expect to achieve liquidity in our investments in the near-term. However, to pay distributions to our stockholders and to maintain the election to be regulated as a BDC and qualify as a RIC, we may have to dispose of investments if we do not satisfy one or more of the applicable criteria under the respective regulatory frameworks. We may also face other restrictions on our ability to liquidate an investment in a portfolio company to the extent that we have material nonpublic information regarding such portfolio company or we become subject to trading restrictions under the internal trading policies of those companies as a result of applicable law or regulations.

Price declines and illiquidity in the corporate debt markets may adversely affect the fair value of our portfolio investments, reducing our net asset value through increased net unrealized depreciation.

As a BDC, we are required to carry our investments at market value or, if no market value is ascertainable, at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board. When an external event such as a purchase transaction, public offering or subsequent equity sale occurs, we use the pricing indicated by the external event to corroborate our

valuation. We record decreases in the market values or fair values of our investments as unrealized depreciation. Declines in prices and liquidity in the corporate debt markets may result in significant net unrealized depreciation in our portfolio. The effect of all of these factors on our portfolio may reduce our net asset value by increasing net unrealized depreciation in our portfolio. Depending on market conditions, we could incur substantial realized losses and may suffer additional unrealized losses in future periods, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our portfolio companies may prepay loans, which prepayment may reduce stated yields if capital returned cannot be invested in transactions with equal or greater expected yields.

The loans that will underlie our portfolio may be callable at any time, and many of them can be repaid with no premium to par. It is not clear at this time when or if any loan might be called. Whether a loan is called will depend both on the continued positive performance of the portfolio company and the existence of favorable financing market conditions that allow such company the ability to replace existing financing with less expensive capital. As market conditions change frequently, it is unknown when, and if, this may be possible for each portfolio company. Risks associated with owning loans include the fact that prepayments may occur at any time, sometimes without premium or penalty, and that the exercise of prepayment rights during periods of declining spreads could cause us to reinvest prepayment proceeds in lower-yielding instruments. In the case of some of these loans, having the loan called early may reduce our achievable yield if the capital returned cannot be invested in transactions with equal or greater expected yields, especially during periods of declining interest rates in the broader market.

To the extent original issue discount (“OID”) and payment-in-kind (“PIK") interest constitute a portion of our income, we will be exposed to typical risks associated with such income being required to be included in taxable and accounting income prior to receipt of cash representing such income.

Our investments may include OID and PIK instruments. To the extent OID and PIK constitutes a portion of our income, we will be exposed to typical risks associated with such income being required to be included in taxable and accounting income prior to receipt of cash, including the following:

Our failure to make follow-on investments in our portfolio companies could impair the value of our portfolio.

Following an initial investment in a portfolio company, we may make additional investments in that portfolio company as “follow-on” investments in order to attempt to preserve or enhance the value of our initial investment. We have discretion to make follow-on investments, subject to the availability of capital resources and the provisions of the 1940 Act. Failure on our part to make follow-on investments may, in some circumstances, jeopardize the continued viability of a portfolio company and our initial investment, or may result in a missed opportunity for us to increase our participation in a successful operation. Even if we have sufficient capital to make a desired follow-on investment, we may elect not to make a follow-on investment because we may not want to increase our level of risk, because we prefer other opportunities or because we are inhibited by compliance with BDC requirements or the desire to maintain our RIC status.

Because we will not hold controlling equity interests in the majority of our portfolio companies, we may not be able to exercise control over our portfolio companies or prevent decisions by management of our portfolio companies, which could decrease the value of our investments.

We do not expect to hold controlling equity positions in the majority of our portfolio companies. Our debt investments may provide limited control features such as restrictions on the ability of a portfolio company to assume additional debt or to use the proceeds of our investment for other than certain specified purposes. “Control” under the 1940 Act is presumed at more than 25% equity ownership and may also be present at lower ownership levels where we provide managerial assistance. When we do not acquire a controlling equity position in a portfolio company, we may be subject to the risk that a portfolio company may make business decisions with which we disagree, and that the management and/or stockholders of a portfolio company may take risks or otherwise act in ways that are adverse to our interests. Due to the lack of liquidity of the debt and equity and equity-related investments that we typically hold in our portfolio companies, we may not be able to dispose of our investments in the event we disagree with the actions of a portfolio company and may therefore suffer a decrease in the value of our investments.

Loans may become non-performing for a variety of reasons.

A loan or debt obligation may become non-performing for a variety of reasons. Such non-performing loans may require substantial workout negotiations or restructuring that may entail, among other things, a substantial reduction in the interest rate, a substantial write-down of the principal amount of the loan and/or the deferral of payments. In addition, such negotiations or restructuring may be quite extensive and protracted over time, and therefore may result in substantial uncertainty with respect to the ultimate recovery. We may also incur additional expenses to the extent that it is required to seek recovery upon a default on a loan or participate in the restructuring of such obligation. The liquidity for defaulted loans may be limited, and to the extent that defaulted loans are sold, it is highly unlikely that the proceeds from such sale will be equal to the amount of unpaid principal and interest thereon. In connection with any such defaults, workouts or restructuring, although we exercise voting rights with respect to an individual loan, we may not be able to exercise votes in respect of a sufficient percentage of voting rights with respect to such loan to determine the outcome of such vote.

Defaults by our portfolio companies will harm our operating results.

A portfolio company’s failure to satisfy financial or operating covenants imposed by us or other lenders could lead to defaults and, potentially, termination of its loans and foreclosure on its assets. This could trigger cross-defaults under other agreements and jeopardize such portfolio company’s ability to meet its obligations under the debt or equity securities that we hold. We may incur expenses to the extent necessary to seek recovery upon default or to negotiate new terms, which may include the waiver of certain financial covenants, with a defaulting portfolio company. In addition, we have invested in and may in the future invest in or obtain significant exposure to “covenant-lite” loans. Generally, covenant-lite loans provide borrower companies more freedom to negatively impact lenders because their covenants are incurrence-based, which means they are only tested and can only be breached following an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. Accordingly, because we invest in and have exposure to covenant-lite loans, we may have fewer rights

against a borrower and may have a greater risk of loss on such investments as compared to investments in or exposure to loans with financial maintenance covenants.

Further, many of our investments will likely have a principal amount outstanding at maturity, which could result in a substantial loss to us if the borrower is unable to refinance or repay.

Inflation may adversely affect the business, results of operations and financial condition of our portfolio companies.

Certain of our portfolio companies may be impacted by inflation. If such portfolio companies are unable to pass any increases in their costs along to their customers, it could adversely affect their results and impact their ability to pay interest and principal on our loans. In addition, any projected future decreases in our portfolio companies’ operating results due to inflation could adversely impact the fair value of those investments. Any decreases in the fair value of our investments could result in future unrealized losses and therefore reduce our net assets resulting from operations. Additionally, the Federal Reserve has raised, and has indicated its intent to continue raising, certain benchmark interest rates in an effort to combat inflation. There is no guarantee that the actions taken by the Federal Reserve will reduce or eliminate inflation. See “—We are exposed to risks associated with changes in interest rates, including the current rising interest rate environment.”

The disposition of our investments may result in contingent liabilities.

A significant portion of our investments may involve private securities. In connection with the disposition of an investment in private securities, we may be required to make representations about the business and financial affairs of the portfolio company typical of those made in connection with the sale of a business. We may also be required to indemnify the purchasers of such investment to the extent that any such representations turn out to be inaccurate or with respect to potential liabilities. These arrangements may result in contingent liabilities that ultimately result in funding obligations that we must satisfy through our return of distributions previously made to us.

We may not realize gains from our equity and equity-related investments.

We have made, and may in the future, make investments that include warrants or other equity or equity-related securities. In addition, we have made, and may from time to time make, non-control, equity co-investments in companies in conjunction with private equity sponsors. Our goal is ultimately to realize gains upon our disposition of such equity and equity-related interests. However, the equity and equity-related interests we receive may not appreciate in value and, in fact, may decline in value. Accordingly, we may not be able to realize gains from our equity and equity-related interests, and any gains that we do realize on the disposition of any equity and equity-related interests may not be sufficient to offset any other losses we experience. We also may be unable to realize any value if a portfolio company does not have a liquidity event, such as a sale of the business, recapitalization or public offering, which would allow us to sell the underlying equity interests. We often seek puts or similar rights to give us the right to sell our equity and equity-related securities back to the portfolio company issuer. We may be unable to exercise these put rights for the consideration provided in our investment documents if the issuer is in financial distress.

We may be subject to additional risks if we engage in hedging transactions and/or invest in foreign securities.

The 1940 Act generally requires that 70% of our investments be in issuers each of whom, in addition to other requirements, is organized under the laws of, and has its principal place of business in, any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands or any other possession of the United States. Our investment strategy does not contemplate a significant number of investments in securities of non-U.S. companies. We expect that these investments would focus on the same investments that we make in U.S. growth stage companies and, accordingly, would be complementary to our overall strategy and enhance the diversity of our holdings.

Investing in foreign companies may expose us to additional risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. companies. These risks include changes in exchange control regulations, political and social instability,

expropriation, imposition of foreign taxes (potentially at confiscatory levels), less liquid markets, less available information than is generally the case in the U.S., higher transaction costs, less government supervision of exchanges, brokers and issuers, less developed bankruptcy laws, difficulty in enforcing contractual obligations, lack of uniform accounting and auditing standards and greater price volatility.

Although we expect that all or substantially all of our investments will be U.S. dollar denominated, any investments denominated in a foreign currency will be subject to the risk that the value of a particular currency will change in relation to one or more other currencies. Among the factors that may affect currency values are trade balances, the level of short-term interest rates, differences in relative values of similar assets in different currencies, long-term opportunities for investment and capital appreciation and political developments. As discussed below, we may employ hedging techniques to minimize these risks, but we cannot assure you that such strategies will be effective or without risk to us.

To the extent that these investments are denominated in a foreign currency, we may engage in hedging transactions. Engaging in either hedging transactions or investing in foreign securities would entail additional risks to our stockholders. We may, for example, use instruments such as interest rate swaps, caps, collars and floors, forward contracts or currency options or borrow under a credit facility in foreign currencies to minimize our foreign currency exposure. In each such case, we generally would seek to hedge against fluctuations of the relative values of our portfolio positions from changes in market interest rates or currency exchange rates. Hedging against a decline in the values of our portfolio positions would not eliminate the possibility of fluctuations in the values of such positions or prevent losses if the values of the positions declined. However, such hedging could establish other positions designed to gain from those same developments, thereby offsetting the decline in the value of such portfolio positions. Such hedging transactions could also limit the opportunity for gain if the values of the underlying portfolio positions increased. Moreover, it might not be possible to hedge against an exchange rate or interest rate fluctuation that was so generally anticipated that we would not be able to enter into a hedging transaction at an acceptable price.

While we may enter into such transactions to seek to reduce currency exchange rate and interest rate risks, unanticipated changes in currency exchange rates or interest rates could result in poorer overall investment performance than if we had not engaged in any such hedging transactions. In addition, the degree of correlation between price movements of the instruments used in a hedging strategy and price movements in the portfolio positions being hedged could vary. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, we might not seek to establish a perfect correlation between the hedging instruments and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Any such imperfect correlation could prevent us from achieving the intended hedge and expose us to risk of loss. In addition, it might not be possible to hedge fully or perfectly against currency fluctuations affecting the value of securities denominated in non-U.S. currencies because the value of those securities would likely fluctuate as a result of factors not related to currency fluctuations. In addition, income derived from hedging transactions that is distributed to non-U.S. stockholders may be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax. Changes to the regulations applicable to the financial instruments we use to accomplish our hedging strategy could affect the effectiveness of that strategy. See “—We are exposed to risks associated with changes in interest rates, including the current rising interest rate environment.”

The market structure applicable to derivatives imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and the SEC may affect our ability to use over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives for hedging purposes.

The Dodd-Frank Act and the CFTC enacted and the SEC has issued rules to implement, both broad new regulatory requirements and broad new structural requirements applicable to OTC derivatives markets and, to a lesser extent, listed commodity futures (and futures options) markets. Similar changes are in the process of being implemented in other major financial markets.

The CFTC and the SEC have issued final rules establishing that certain swap transactions are subject to CFTC regulation. Engaging in such swap or other commodity interest transactions such as futures contracts or options on futures contracts may cause us to fall within the definition of “commodity pool” under the Commodity Exchange Act and related CFTC regulations. We have claimed relief from CFTC registration and regulation as a commodity pool operator with respect to our operations, with the result that we are limited in our ability to use futures contracts or options on futures contracts or engage in swap transactions. Specifically, we are subject to strict limitations on

using such derivatives other than for hedging purposes, whereby the use of derivatives not used solely for hedging purposes is generally limited to situations where (i) the aggregate initial margin and premiums required to establish such positions does not exceed five percent of the liquidation value of our portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such contracts we have entered into; or (ii) the aggregate net notional value of such derivatives does not exceed 100% of the liquidation value of our portfolio.

The Dodd-Frank Act also imposed requirements relating to real-time public and regulatory reporting of OTC derivative transactions, enhanced documentation requirements, position limits on an expanded array of derivatives, and record keeping requirements. Taken as a whole, these changes could significantly increase the cost of using uncleared OTC derivatives to hedge risks, including interest rate and foreign exchange risk; reduce the level of exposure we are able to obtain for risk management purposes through OTC derivatives (including as the result of the CFTC imposing position limits on additional products); reduce the amounts available to us to make non-derivatives investments; impair liquidity in certain OTC derivatives; and adversely affect the quality of execution pricing obtained by us, all of which could adversely impact our investment returns.

Our ability to enter into transactions involving derivatives and financial commitment transactions may be limited.

In August 2022, Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act, regarding the ability of a BDC (or a registered investment company) to use derivatives and other transactions that create future payment or delivery obligations, became effective. Under the newly adopted rules, BDCs that use derivatives will be subject to a value-at-risk (“VaR”) leverage limit, certain other derivatives risk management program and testing requirements and requirements related to board reporting. These new requirements will apply unless the BDC qualifies as a “limited derivatives user” under the adopted rules. Under the new rule, a BDC may enter into an unfunded commitment agreement that is not a derivatives transaction, such as an agreement to provide financing to a portfolio company, if the BDC has, among other things, a reasonable belief, at the time it enters into such an agreement, that it will have sufficient cash and cash equivalents to meet its obligations with respect to all of its unfunded commitment agreements, in each case as it becomes due. We currently operate as a “limited derivatives user” which may limit our ability to use derivatives and/or enter into certain other financial contracts.

Investing in our common stock may involve an above-average degree of risk.

The investments we make in accordance with our investment objective may result in a higher amount of risk than alternative investment options and a higher risk of volatility or loss of principal. Our investments in portfolio companies may be highly speculative and aggressive and, therefore, an investment in our common stock may not be suitable for someone with lower risk tolerance.

We may not be able to pay distributions, our distributions may not grow over time and/or a portion of our distributions may be a return of capital.

We intend to pay distributions to our stockholders out of assets legally available for distribution. We cannot assure you that we will achieve investment results that will allow us to sustain a specified level of cash distributions or make periodic increases in cash distributions. Our ability to pay distributions might be adversely affected by, among other things, the impact of one or more of the risk factors described herein. If we declare a dividend, and if enough stockholders opt to receive cash distributions rather than participate in our distribution reinvestment plan, we may be forced to sell some of our investments in order to make cash dividend payments. In addition, the inability to satisfy the asset coverage test applicable to us as a BDC could limit our ability to pay distributions. All distributions will be paid at the discretion of the Board and will depend on our earnings, our financial condition, maintenance of our RIC status, compliance with applicable BDC regulations and such other factors as the Board may deem relevant from time to time. We cannot assure you that we will pay distributions to our stockholders.

When we make distributions, we will be required to determine the extent to which such distributions are paid out of current or accumulated earnings and profits. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will be treated as a non-taxable return of capital to the extent of an investor’s adjusted tax basis in our stock and, assuming that an investor holds our stock as a capital asset, thereafter as a capital gain.

Provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”) and our Charter and Bylaws could deter takeover attempts and have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

The MGCL and our Charter and Bylaws contain provisions that may discourage, delay or make more difficult a change in control of us or the removal of our directors. We are subject to the Maryland Business Combination Act, subject to any applicable requirements of the 1940 Act. The Board has adopted a resolution exempting from the Maryland Business Combination Act any business combination between us and any other person, subject to prior approval of such business combination by the Board, including approval by a majority of our independent directors. If the resolution exempting business combinations is repealed or the Board does not approve a business combination, the Maryland Business Combination Act may discourage third parties from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating such an offer. In addition, we may amend our Bylaws to be subject to the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act, but only if the Board determines that it would be in our best interests, including in light of the Board’s fiduciary obligations, applicable federal and state laws, and the particular facts and circumstances surrounding the Board’s decision. If such conditions are met, and we amend our Bylaws to repeal the exemption from the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act, the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act also may make it more difficult for a third party to obtain control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating such a transaction.

We have adopted certain measures that may make it difficult for a third-party to obtain control of us, including provisions of our Charter classifying the Board in three staggered terms and authorizing the Board to classify or reclassify shares of our capital stock in one or more classes or series and to cause the issuance of additional shares of our stock. These provisions, as well as other provisions of our Charter and Bylaws, may delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.

Our Bylaws include an exclusive forum selection provision, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other agents.

Our Bylaws require that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City (or, if that court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division) shall be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of any standard of conduct or legal duty owed by any of the Company’s director, officer or other agent to the Company or to its stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the MGCL or the Charter or the Bylaws (as either may be amended from time to time), or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine.

This exclusive forum selection provision in our Bylaws will not apply to claims arising under the federal securities laws, including the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such a provision, and investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. In addition, this provision may increase costs for stockholders in bringing a claim against us or our directors, officers or other agents. Any investor purchasing or otherwise acquiring our shares is deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provision.

The exclusive forum selection provision in our Bylaws may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other agents, which may discourage lawsuits against us and such persons. It is also possible that, notwithstanding such exclusive forum selection provision, a court could rule that such provision is inapplicable or unenforceable. If this occurred, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in another forum, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We cannot assure you that a market for our common stock will develop or, if one develops, that the market will continue, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our common stock.

Our common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “TRIN” on January 29, 2021. We cannot assure you that an active trading market will develop for our common stock or, if one develops, that the trading market can be sustained. In addition, we cannot predict the prices at which our common stock will trade. Shares of closed-end investment companies, including BDCs, frequently trade at a discount from their net

asset value and our stock may also be discounted in the market. This characteristic of closed-end investment companies is separate and distinct from the risk that our net asset value per share of common stock may decline. We cannot predict whether our common stock will trade at, above or below net asset value. In addition, if our common stock trades below its net asset value, we will generally not be able to sell additional shares of our common stock to the public at its market price without first obtaining the approval of a majority of our stockholders (including a majority of our unaffiliated stockholders) and our independent directors for such issuance.

A stockholder’s interest in us will be diluted if additional shares of our common stock are issued in the future, which could reduce the overall value of an investment in us.

Our stockholders do not have preemptive rights to purchase any shares we issue in the future. Our charter authorizes us to issue up to 200 million shares of common stock. Pursuant to our charter, a majority of our entire Board may amend our charter to increase the number of shares of common stock we may issue without stockholder approval. If we raise additional funds by issuing shares or senior securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, shares, then the percentage ownership of our stockholders at that time will decrease and they will experience dilution, including upon the exercise of such convertible securities. Depending upon the terms and pricing of any future offerings and the value of our investments, stockholders’ may also experience dilution in the book value and fair value of their shares. Stockholders will experience dilution upon the conversion of some or all of the Convertible Notes into shares, and the existence of the Convertible Notes may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the Convertible Notes could depress the market price for our shares.

Under the 1940 Act, we generally are prohibited from issuing or selling our common stock at a price below net asset value per share, which may be a disadvantage as compared with certain public companies. We may, however, sell our common stock, or warrants, options, or rights to acquire our common stock, at a price below the current net asset value of our common stock if our Board and independent directors determine that such sale is in our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders, and our stockholders, including a majority of those stockholders that are not affiliated with us, approve such sale. In any such case, the price at which our securities are to be issued and sold may not be less than a price that, in the determination of our Board, closely approximates the fair value of such securities (less any distributing commission or discount).

At our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 8, 2022, our stockholders voted to allow us to issue common stock at a price below net asset value per share for the period ending on the earlier of the one-year anniversary of the date of our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and the date of our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which is expected to be held in May or June 2023. The proposal approved by our stockholders at our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders did not specify a maximum discount below net asset value at which we are able to issue our common stock, although the number of shares sold in one or more offerings may not exceed 25% of our outstanding common stock as of the date of stockholder approval of this proposal. If we were to issue or sell shares of our common stock at a price below our net asset value per share, such sales would result in an immediate dilution to our net asset value per share and pose a risk of dilution to our stockholders. In particular, stockholders who do not purchase additional shares at or below such discounted price in proportion to their current ownership will experience an immediate decrease in net asset value per share (as well as in the aggregate net asset value of their shares if they do not participate at all). These stockholders will also experience a disproportionately greater decrease in their participation in our earnings and assets and their voting power than the increase we experience in our assets, potential earning power and voting interests from such issuance or sale. In addition, such issuances or sales may adversely affect the price at which our common stock trades. Because the number of shares of common stock that could be so issued and the timing of any issuance is not currently known, the actual dilutive effect cannot be predicted.

Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

Any future public resale of any shares of our common stock under the Convertible Notes Registration Rights Agreement and/or the expiration of applicable lock-up periods, subject to applicable securities laws, sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the prevailing market prices for our common stock. If this occurs, it could impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities should we desire to do so. We cannot predict what effect, if any, future sales of

securities, or the availability of securities for future sales, will have on the market price of our common stock prevailing from time to time.

The market value of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.

The market value and liquidity, if any, of the market for shares of our common stock may be significantly affected by numerous factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be directly related to our operating performance. These factors include:

If we issue preferred stock or convertible debt securities, the net asset value of our common stock may become more volatile.

We cannot assure you that the issuance of preferred stock and/or additional convertible debt securities would result in a higher yield or return to the holders of our common stock. The issuance of preferred stock or additional convertible debt would likely cause the net asset value of our common stock to become more volatile. If the dividend rate on the preferred stock, or the interest rate on the convertible debt securities, were to approach the net rate of return on our investment portfolio, the benefit of such leverage to the holders of our common stock would be reduced. If the dividend rate on the preferred stock, or the interest rate on the convertible debt securities, were to exceed the net rate of return on our portfolio, the use of leverage would result in a lower rate of return to the holders of common stock than if we had not issued the preferred stock or convertible debt securities. Any decline in the net asset value of our investment would be borne entirely by the holders of our common stock. Therefore, if the market value of our portfolio were to decline, the leverage would result in a greater decrease in net asset value to the holders of our common stock than if we were not leveraged through the issuance of preferred stock or debt securities. This decline in net asset value would also tend to cause a greater decline in the market price, if any, for our common stock.

There is also a risk that, in the event of a sharp decline in the value of our net assets, we would be in danger of failing to maintain required asset coverage ratios, which may be required by the preferred stock or convertible debt, or our current investment income might not be sufficient to meet the dividend requirements on the preferred stock or the interest payments on the debt securities. In order to counteract such an event, we might need to liquidate investments in order to fund the redemption of some or all of the preferred stock or convertible debt. In addition, we would pay (and the holders of our common stock would bear) all costs and expenses relating to the issuance and ongoing maintenance of the preferred stock, debt securities, convertible debt, or any combination of these securities. Holders of preferred stock or convertible debt may have different interests than holders of common stock and may at times have disproportionate influence over our affairs.

Stockholders may experience dilution in the net asset value of their shares if they do not participate in our distribution reinvestment plan and if our shares are trading at a discount to net asset value.

All distributions declared in cash payable to stockholders that are participants in our distribution reinvestment plan will generally be automatically reinvested in shares of our common stock if the investor does not elect to opt out of the plan. As a result, stockholders that opt out of our distribution reinvestment plan may experience accretion to the net asset value of their shares if our shares are trading at a premium to net asset value and dilution if our shares are trading at a discount to net asset value. The level of accretion or discount would depend on various factors, including the proportion of our stockholders who participate in the plan, the level of premium or discount at which our shares are trading and the amount of the distribution payable to stockholders.

The Notes and the Convertible Notes are unsecured and therefore are effectively subordinated to any secured indebtedness we have currently incurred or may incur in the future.

The Notes and the Convertible Notes are not secured by any of our assets or any of the assets of our subsidiaries. As a result, the Notes and the Convertible Notes are effectively subordinated, or junior, to any secured indebtedness or other obligations we or our subsidiaries have currently incurred, including under the KeyBank Credit Facility, and may incur in the future (or any indebtedness that is initially unsecured that we later secure) to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness. In any liquidation, dissolution, bankruptcy or other similar proceeding, the holders of any of our existing or future secured indebtedness and the secured indebtedness of our subsidiaries may assert rights against the assets pledged to secure that indebtedness in order to receive full payment of their indebtedness before the assets may be used to pay other creditors, including the holders of the Notes and the Convertible Notes. Secured indebtedness, including the indebtedness under the KeyBank Credit Facility, is effectively senior to the Notes and the Convertible Notes to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness.

The Notes and the Convertible Notes are structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of our subsidiaries.

The Notes and the Convertible Notes are obligations exclusively of Trinity Capital Inc. and not of any of our subsidiaries. None of our subsidiaries are a guarantor of the Notes and the Convertible Notes, and these notes are not required to be guaranteed by any subsidiaries we may acquire or create in the future. Any assets of any of our subsidiaries will not be directly available to satisfy the claims of our creditors, including the holders of the Notes and the Convertible Notes. Except to the extent we are a creditor with recognized claims against our subsidiaries, all claims of creditors (including trade creditors) and holders of preferred stock, if any, of our subsidiaries will have priority over our equity interests in such subsidiaries and therefore the claims of our creditors, including holders of the Notes and the Convertible Notes with respect to the assets of such subsidiaries. Even if we are recognized as a creditor of one or more of our subsidiaries, our claims would still be effectively subordinated to any security interests in the assets of any such subsidiary and to any indebtedness or other liabilities of any such subsidiary senior to our claims. Consequently, the Notes and the Convertible Notes are structurally subordinated, or junior, to the KeyBank Credit Facility and all existing and future indebtedness and other obligations (including trade payables) incurred by any of our subsidiaries, financing vehicles or similar facilities and any subsidiaries, financing vehicles or similar facilities that we may in the future acquire or establish.

The respective indentures under which the Notes and the Convertible Notes were issued contain limited protection for holders of such notes.

The respective indentures under which the Notes and the Convertible Notes were issued offer limited protection to holders of such notes. The respective terms of such indentures and the Notes and the Convertible Notes do not restrict our or any of our subsidiaries’ ability to engage in, or otherwise be a party to, a variety of corporate transactions, circumstances or events that could have an adverse impact on an investment in the Notes or the Convertible Notes. In particular, the terms of such indentures and the Notes and the Convertible Notes do not place any restrictions on our or our subsidiaries’ ability to:

In addition, under the indenture governing the 2025 Notes, we are not required to offer to purchase the 2025 Notes in connection with a change of control or any other event. Such limitation does not apply to the August 2026 Notes, the December 2026 Notes or the Convertible Notes under their respective governing indentures. See “We may not be able to repurchase either of the August 2026 Notes or the December 2026 Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event” and “We may not have, or have the ability to raise, the funds necessary to purchase the Convertible Notes as required upon a fundamental change, and our future debt may contain limitations on our ability to deliver shares of our common stock upon conversion or purchase of the Convertible Notes.”

Furthermore, the Notes and the Convertible Notes and the terms of their respective indentures do not protect holders of such notes in the event that we experience changes (including significant adverse changes) in our financial condition, results of operations or credit ratings, as they do not require that we or our subsidiaries adhere to any financial tests or ratios or specified levels of net worth, revenues, income, cash flow, or liquidity.

Our ability to recapitalize, incur additional debt and take a number of other actions that are not limited by the terms of the Notes and the Convertible Notes may have important consequences for the holders of such notes, including making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to the Notes and the Convertible Notes or negatively affecting the trading value of the Notes and the Convertible Notes to the extent such a trading market develops for such notes.

Certain of our current debt instruments include more protections for their holders than the Notes and the Convertible Notes, including under the respective indentures of such notes. In addition, other debt we issue or incur in the future could contain more protections for its holders than the Notes and the Convertible Notes, including under the respective indentures of such notes, including additional covenants and events of default. The issuance or incurrence of any such debt with incremental protections could affect the market for and trading levels and prices of the Notes and the Convertible Notes to the extent such a market develops for such notes.

If we default on our obligations to pay our other indebtedness, we may not be able to make payments on the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes.

Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness or under other indebtedness to which we may be a party, that is not waived by the required lenders or holders and the remedies sought by the holders of such indebtedness could make us unable to pay principal, premium, if any, and interest on the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes and substantially decrease the market value of any such notes.

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow and are otherwise unable to obtain funds necessary to meet required payments of principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness, or if we otherwise fail to comply with the various covenants, including financial and operating covenants, in the instruments governing our indebtedness, we could be in default under the terms of the agreements governing such indebtedness. In the event of such default, the holders of such indebtedness could elect to declare all the funds borrowed thereunder to be due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest, the lenders under our current indebtedness or other debt we may incur in the future could elect to terminate their commitments, cease making further loans and institute foreclosure proceedings against our assets, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

If our operating performance declines, we may in the future need to seek to obtain waivers from the required lenders or holders under the agreements governing our indebtedness, or other indebtedness that we may incur in the future, to avoid being in default. If we breach our covenants under the agreements governing our indebtedness and seek a waiver, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the required lenders or holders. If this occurs, we would be in default and our lenders or debt holders could exercise their rights as described above, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

If we are unable to repay debt, lenders having secured obligations, including under the KeyBank Credit Facility, could proceed against the collateral securing the debt. Because the KeyBank Credit Facility and the respective indentures governing the Notes and the Convertible Notes each have, and any future debt will likely have, customary cross-default and cross-acceleration provisions, if the indebtedness thereunder or under any future credit facility is accelerated, we may be unable to repay or finance the amounts due.

The optional redemption provision under the respective indentures of the Notes may materially adversely affect a holder’s return on such notes.

The 2025 Notes are redeemable in whole or in part at any time or from time to time on or after January 16, 2023 at our option, and the August 2026 Notes and the December 2026 Notes are redeemable in whole or in part at any time or from time to time at our option. We may choose to redeem the Notes at times when prevailing interest rates are lower than the interest rate paid on such notes. In this circumstance, the holders thereof may not be able to

reinvest the redemption proceeds in a comparable security at an effective interest rate as high as that of the Notes being redeemed.

We may not be able to repurchase either of the August 2026 Notes or the December 2026 Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event.

Upon the occurrence of a Change of Control Repurchase Event (as defined in the respective indenture that governs the August 2026 Notes and the December 2026 Notes), subject to certain conditions, we will be required to offer to repurchase all outstanding August 2026 Notes and the December 2026 Notes, as applicable, at 100% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest. The source of funds for such purchase of such notes, as applicable, will be our available cash or cash generated from our operations or other potential sources, including borrowings, investment repayments, sales of assets or sales of equity. We cannot assure you that sufficient funds from such sources will be available at the time of any Change of Control Repurchase Event to make required repurchases of such notes tendered, as applicable. Before making any such repurchase of such notes, as applicable, we would also have to comply with certain requirements under the KeyBank Credit Facility and/or any future credit facility, as applicable, to the extent such requirements remain in effect at such time, or otherwise obtain consent from the lenders under the KeyBank Credit Facility and/or any future credit facility, as applicable. Our future debt instruments also may contain similar restrictions and provisions. If the holders of the August 2026 Notes and/or the December 2026 Notes, as applicable, exercise their right to require us to repurchase all of such notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event, the financial effect of this repurchase could cause a default under our existing or future debt instruments, even if the Change of Control Repurchase Event itself would not cause a default. It is possible that we will not have sufficient funds at the time of the Change of Control Repurchase Event to make the required repurchase of the August 2026 Notes, the December 2026 Notes, and/or our other debt, as applicable.

We may not have, or have the ability to raise, the funds necessary to purchase the Convertible Notes as required upon a fundamental change, and our future debt may contain limitations on our ability to deliver shares of our common stock upon conversion or purchase of the Convertible Notes.

Holders of the Convertible Notes will have the right to require us to purchase their Convertible Notes for cash upon the occurrence of a fundamental change at a purchase price equal to 100% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. As defined in the indenture under which the Convertible Notes were issued, including the Base Indenture, dated as of January 16, 2020 (the “Base Indenture”), between the Company and U.S Bank National Association, as trustee (the “Trustee”), and a Second Supplemental Indenture, dated as of December 11, 2020 (together with the Base Indenture, the “Convertible Notes Indenture”), between the Company and the Trustee, a fundamental change means the occurrence of either a change in control or, after the initial listing of our common stock on a national securities exchange, the termination of trading of our common stock on any such exchange. We may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to make purchases of Convertible Notes surrendered therefor. In addition, our ability to purchase the Convertible Notes or to deliver shares of our common stock upon conversions of the Convertible Notes may be limited by law, by regulatory authority or by agreements governing our indebtedness. Our failure to purchase Convertible Notes at a time when the purchase is required by the Convertible Notes Indenture or deliver any shares of our common stock upon future conversions of the Convertible Notes as required by the Convertible Notes Indenture would constitute a default under the Convertible Notes Indenture. A default under the Convertible Notes Indenture or the fundamental change itself could also lead to a default under the KeyBank Credit Facility and/or the respective indentures of the Notes. If the repayment of the related indebtedness were to be accelerated after any applicable notice or grace periods, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and purchase the Convertible Notes.

There is no active public trading market for the August 2026 Notes, the December 2026 Notes or the Convertible Notes; as a result, a holder may not be able to resell any of such notes.

There currently is no active public trading market for the August 2026 Notes, the December 2026 Notes and the Convertible Notes. We do not currently intend to apply for listing of any such notes on any securities exchange or for quotation of any such notes on any automated dealer quotation system. If no active trading market develops, a holder may not be able to resell any at their fair market value or at all. If any of such notes are traded after their initial issuance, they may trade at a discount from their initial offering price depending on prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities, our credit ratings, general economic conditions, our financial condition,

performance and prospects and other factors. If a market is made for any of such notes, any such market-making may be discontinued at any time. In addition, any market-making activity, if any, will be subject to limits imposed by law. Accordingly, we can provide no assurance that a liquid trading market, if any, will develop for such notes, that a holder will be able to sell any of such notes at a particular time, or that the price a holder may receive when it sells any of such notes will be favorable. To the extent an active trading market does not develop, the liquidity and trading price for such notes may be harmed. Accordingly, a holder may be required to bear the financial risk of an investment in such notes for an indefinite period of time.

The 2025 Notes are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “TRINL.” We cannot provide any assurances that an active trading market will develop or be maintained for the 2025 Notes, that a holder will be able to sell its 2025 Notes, or that the price a holder may receive when it sells its 2025 Notes will be favorable. The 2025 Notes may trade at a discount from their initial offering price depending on prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities, our credit ratings, general economic conditions, our financial condition, performance and prospects and other factors. The underwriters of the public offering of the 2025 Notes have advised us that they intend to make a market in the 2025 Notes, but they are not obligated to do so. Such underwriters may discontinue any market-making in the 2025 Notes at any time at their sole discretion.

A downgrade, suspension or withdrawal of the credit rating assigned by a rating agency to us, the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes, if any, or changes in the debt markets, could cause the liquidity and/or market value of the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes to decline significantly.

Any credit ratings assigned to us, the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes are an assessment by rating agencies of our ability to pay our obligations when due. Consequently, real or anticipated changes to any such credit ratings will generally affect the liquidity and/or market value of the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes. These credit ratings, however, may not reflect the potential impact of risks related to market conditions generally or other factors discussed herein that could impact the liquidity and/or market value of the Notes and/or the Convertible Notes.

If an investment grade rating is not maintained with respect to the Convertible Notes, additional interest of 0.75% per annum will accrue on the Convertible Notes until such time as the Convertible Notes have received an investment grade rating of “BBB-” (or its equivalent) or better. An explanation of the significance of a credit rating may be obtained from the rating agency.

Generally, rating agencies base their ratings on such material and information, and such of their own investigations, studies and assumptions, as they deem appropriate. Any such credit ratings should be evaluated independently from similar ratings of other securities or companies. Credit ratings are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and may be subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the issuing organization in its sole discretion. There can be no assurance that a credit rating will remain for any given period of time.

The conversion rate of the Convertible Notes may not be adjusted for all dilutive events.

The conversion rate of the Convertible Notes is subject to adjustment upon certain events, including the issuance of certain stock dividends on our common stock, certain issuance of rights or warrants subdivisions, combinations, certain distributions of capital stock, indebtedness or assets, certain cash dividends and certain issuer tender or exchange offers. However, the conversion rate will not be adjusted for other events, such as a third-party tender or exchange offer or an issuance of common stock for cash, that may adversely affect the trading price of the Convertible Notes or the common stock. An event that adversely affects the value of the Convertible Notes may occur, and that event may not result in an adjustment to the conversion rate.

If we issue shares of our common stock upon conversion of some or all of the Convertible Notes, our stockholders, including holders that received shares of our common stock upon conversion of their Convertible Notes, may experience dilution.

The forced conversion provision may materially adversely affect the holders’ return on the Convertible Notes.

At our option, we may cause the holders to convert all or a portion of the then outstanding principal amount of the Convertible Notes plus accrued but unpaid interest, but excluding the date of such conversion, at any time on or prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding the maturity date, if, the closing sale price

of our common stock on a national securities exchange for any 30 consecutive trading days exceeds 120% of the conversion price, as may be adjusted. Upon such conversion, we will pay or deliver, as the case may be, cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock, at our election, per $1,000 principal amount of the Convertible Notes, equal to the conversion rate, and a forced conversion make-whole payment, if any, in cash, as described Convertible Notes Indenture. In this circumstance, the holders may not be able to reinvest the proceeds therefrom in a comparable security at an effective interest rate as high as that of the Convertible Notes.

The Convertible Notes may bear the restricted legend indefinitely if we issue additional Convertible Notes.

The Convertible Notes Indenture will allow us to issue additional Convertible Notes in the future on the same terms and conditions as the Convertible Notes offered hereby, except for any differences in the issue price and interest accrued prior to the issue date of the additional Convertible Notes; provided that if any such additional notes are not fungible with the Convertible Notes initially offered hereby for U.S. federal income tax purposes, those additional notes will have a separate CUSIP number. Subject to certain exceptions, the Convertible Notes Indenture will provide that the Convertible Notes and any shares of common stock issued upon conversion of the Convertible Notes will bear a restricted securities legend until the date that is one year after the later of last date of original issuance of the Convertible Notes or the last day of issuance of any additional Convertible Notes, or such later date, if any, as may be required by applicable law. We may, but are not required to, remove the restricted securities legend from any global Convertible Notes promptly after such date. However, because the issuance of any additional Convertible Notes would cause such date to be delayed beyond one year after the last date of original issuance of the Convertible Notes offered hereby, any additional Convertible Notes that we issue at a later date will cause the removal of the restricted legend, if at all, to be delayed beyond such date. As a result of the foregoing, your ability to resell in the public market the Convertible Notes and common stock issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes may be delayed, which may adversely affect the size of the market for these securities and pricing on re-sales.

The accounting for convertible debt securities is subject to uncertainty.

The accounting for convertible debt securities is subject to frequent scrutiny by the accounting regulatory bodies and is subject to change. We cannot predict if or when any such change could be made and any such change could have an adverse impact on our reported or future financial results. Any such impacts could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and in turn negatively impact the market price of the Convertible Notes.

The market value of our common stock and of the Convertible Notes may fluctuate significantly, and this may make it difficult for holders to resell the Convertible Notes or common stock issued upon conversion of the Convertible Notes when holders want or at prices holders find attractive.

There is currently no public market for the Convertible Notes and there can be no assurance that a market for the Convertible Notes will develop or be maintained. In addition, the market value and liquidity, if any, of the market for the Convertible Notes or our common stock may be significantly affected by numerous factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be directly related to our operating performance. In addition, because the Convertible Notes are convertible into our common stock, volatility or depressed prices for our common stock could have a similar effect on the trading price of the Convertible Notes. These factors include:

Under the Convertible Notes Registration Rights Agreement, we have agreed to file a resale registration statement for the Convertible Notes and any shares of common stock to be issued upon conversion of the Convertible Notes. Under the Convertible Notes Registration Rights Agreement, we are required to register the resale of the Convertible Notes and such shares under the Securities Act. Until any such resale registration statement has been declared effective, holders of the Convertible Notes and such shares may not offer or sell the Convertible Notes and such shares except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an effective registration statement. The SEC, however, has broad discretion to determine whether any registration statement will be declared effective and may delay or deny the effectiveness of any such resale registration statement filed by us for a variety of reasons. Our ability to have declared effective by the SEC a registration statement pertaining to the resale of the Convertible Notes and/or any shares of common stock to be issued upon conversion of the Convertible Notes on a timely basis will depend upon our ability to resolve any issues that may be raised by the SEC. No assurance can be given as to when any such resale registration statement with respect to the Convertible Notes and/or any shares of common stock to be issued upon conversion of the Convertible Notes will become effective. Failure to have any such resale registration statement become effective could adversely affect the liquidity and price of the Convertible Notes and/or any shares of common stock issued upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, as applicable.

Holders of the Convertible Notes will not be entitled to any rights with respect to our common stock, but will be subject to all changes made with respect to our common stock.

Holders of the Convertible Notes will not be entitled to any rights with respect to our common stock (including, without limitation, voting rights or rights to receive any dividends or other distributions on our common stock), but will be subject to all changes affecting our common stock. Holders will only be entitled to rights in respect of our common stock if and when we deliver shares of our common stock upon conversion for their Convertible Notes and, to a limited extent, under the conversion rate adjustments applicable to the Convertible Notes. For example, in the event that an amendment is proposed to our charter or bylaws requiring stockholder approval and the record date for determining the stockholders of record entitled to vote on the amendment occurs prior to a holder’s conversion of Convertible Notes, the holder will not be entitled to vote on the amendment, although the holder will nevertheless be subject to any changes in the powers, preferences or rights of our common stock that result from such amendment.

Upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, holders may receive less valuable consideration than expected because the market value or net asset value per share of our common stock may decline after holders exercise their conversion right but before we settle our conversion obligation.

Under the Convertible Notes, a converting holder may be exposed to fluctuations in the market value or net asset value per share of our common stock during the period from the date such holder surrenders its Convertible Notes for conversion until the date we settle our conversion obligation.

Because we may satisfy our conversion obligation solely in shares of our common stock upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, under such circumstances we will deliver shares of our common stock, together with cash for any fractional share, on the second business day following the relevant conversion date. Accordingly, if the market value or net asset value per share of our common stock decreases during this period, the market value of the shares of our common stock that holders receive will be adversely affected and would be less than the conversion value of the Convertible Notes on the conversion date.

The adjustment to the conversion rate for Convertible Notes converted in connection with a make-whole adjustment event may not adequately compensate holders for any lost value of their Convertible Notes as a result of such transaction.

Following a make-whole adjustment event, if a holder elects to convert its Convertible Notes in connection with such corporate transaction, we will increase the conversion rate by an additional number of shares of our common stock upon conversion in certain circumstances. As defined in the Convertible Notes Indenture, a make-whole adjustment event means any change of control and any termination of trading of our common stock on any national securities exchange. The increase in the conversion rate will be determined based on the date on which the make-whole adjustment event occurs or becomes effective and the price paid (or deemed to be paid) per share of our common stock in the make-whole adjustment event, as described in the Convertible Notes Indenture. The adjustment to the conversion rate for Convertible Notes converted in connection with a make-whole adjustment event may not adequately compensate holders for any lost value of their Convertible Notes as a result of such transaction. In addition, if the price paid (or deemed to be paid) per share of our common stock in the make-whole adjustment event is greater than $20.00 per share or less than $13.01 per share (in each case, subject to adjustment), no increase in the conversion rate will be made. Moreover, in no event will the conversion rate per $1,000 principal amount of Convertible Notes exceed the maximum conversion rate described further in the Convertible Notes Indenture, which is subject to adjustment as described in such section.

Our obligation to increase the conversion rate upon the occurrence of a make-whole adjustment event could be considered a penalty, in which case the enforceability thereof would be subject to general principles of reasonableness of economic remedies.

Some significant restructuring transactions may not constitute a fundamental change, in which case we would not be obligated to offer to purchase the Convertible Notes.

Upon the occurrence of a fundamental change, holders have the right to require us to purchase their Convertible Notes. However, the fundamental change provisions will not afford protection to holders in the event of other transactions that could adversely affect the Convertible Notes. For example, transactions such as leveraged recapitalizations, refinancings, restructurings, or acquisitions initiated by us may not constitute a fundamental change requiring us to repurchase the Convertible Notes. In addition, holders may not be entitled to require us to purchase their Convertible Notes upon a fundamental change in certain circumstances involving a significant change in the composition of our Board, or in connection with a proxy contest where our Board does not endorse a dissident slate of directors but approves them for purposes of the definition of “continuing directors” as set forth in the Convertible Notes Indenture. In the event of any such transaction, the holders would not have the right to require us to purchase their Convertible Notes, even though each of these transactions could increase the amount of our indebtedness, or otherwise adversely affect our capital structure or any credit ratings, thereby adversely affecting the holders.

Provisions of the Convertible Notes could discourage an acquisition of us by a third party.

Certain provisions of the Convertible Notes could make it more difficult or more expensive for a third party to acquire us. Upon the occurrence of certain transactions constituting a fundamental change, holders of the Convertible Notes will have the right, at their option, to require us to purchase for cash all of their Convertible Notes or any portion of the principal amount of such Convertible Notes in integral multiples of $1,000. We may also be required to increase the conversion rate in the event of certain transactions constituting a make-whole adjustment event. These provisions could discourage an acquisition of us by a third party.

If the Convertible Notes are issued with OID and a bankruptcy petition were filed by or against us, holders of the Convertible Notes may receive a lesser amount for their claim than they would have been entitled to receive under the Convertible Notes Indenture.

If the Convertible Notes are issued with OID and a bankruptcy petition were filed by or against us under the United States Bankruptcy Code after the issuance of the Convertible Notes, the claim by any holder of the Convertible Notes for the principal amount of the Convertible Notes may be limited to an amount equal to the sum

of: the original issue price for the Convertible Notes and that portion of any OID that does not constitute “unmatured interest” for purposes of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Any OID that was not amortized as of the date of the bankruptcy filing would constitute unmatured interest. Accordingly, holders of the Convertible Notes under these circumstances may receive a lesser amount than they would be entitled to under the terms of the Convertible Notes Indenture, even if sufficient funds are available.

Holders may be subject to tax if we make or fail to make certain adjustments to the conversion rate of the Convertible Notes, even though the holders did not receive a corresponding cash distribution.

The conversion rate of the Convertible Notes is subject to adjustment in certain circumstances, including the payment of cash dividends. If the conversion rate is adjusted as a result of a distribution that is taxable to our common stockholders, such as a cash dividend, a holder may be deemed to have received a dividend subject to U.S. federal income tax without the receipt of any cash. In addition, a failure to adjust (or to adjust adequately) the conversion rate after an event that increases a holder’s proportionate interest in us could be treated as a deemed taxable dividend to the holder. If a make-whole adjustment event occurs on or prior to the business day immediately preceding the stated maturity date of the Convertible Notes, under some circumstances, we will increase the conversion rate for the Convertible Notes converted in connection with the make-whole adjustment event. Such increase may also be treated as a distribution subject to U.S. federal income tax as a dividend. In addition, if a holder is a non-U.S. holder, such holder may be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax in connection with such a deemed distribution. If withholding tax is paid on a holder’s behalf as a result of an adjustment to the conversion rate of the Convertible Notes, the withholding agent may offset such payments against payments of cash and common stock on the Convertible Notes. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisor with respect to the U.S. federal income tax consequences resulting from an adjustment to the conversion rate of the Convertible Notes.

Because the Convertible Notes will initially be held in book-entry form, holders must rely on DTC’s procedures to receive communications relating to the Convertible Notes and exercise their rights and remedies.

We will initially issue the Convertible Notes in the form of one or more global notes registered in the name of Cede & Co., as nominee of DTC. Beneficial interests in global notes will be shown on, and transfers of global notes will be effected only through, the records maintained by DTC. Except in limited circumstances, we will not issue certificated Convertible Notes. Accordingly, if a holder owns a beneficial interest in a global note, then the holder will not be considered an owner or holder of the Convertible Notes. Instead, DTC or its nominee will be the sole holder of the Convertible Notes. Unlike persons who have certificated Convertible Notes registered in their names, owners of beneficial interests in global notes will not have the direct right to act on our solicitations for consents or requests for waivers or other actions from holders. Instead, those beneficial owners will be permitted to act only to the extent that they have received appropriate proxies to do so from DTC or, if applicable, a DTC participant. The applicable procedures for the granting of these proxies may not be sufficient to enable owners of beneficial interests in global notes to vote on any requested actions on a timely basis. In addition, notices and other communications relating to the Convertible Notes will be sent to DTC. We expect DTC to forward any such communications to DTC participants, which in turn would forward such communications to indirect DTC participants. But we can make no assurances that holders timely receive any such communications.

We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates if we are unable to qualify or maintain qualification as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code.

We have elected to be treated, currently qualify, and intend to qualify annually as, a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code; however, no assurance can be given that we will be able to qualify for and maintain RIC status. To qualify for RIC tax treatment under the Code and to be relieved of U.S. federal taxes on income and gains distributed to our stockholders, we must meet certain requirements, including source-of-income, asset-diversification and annual distribution requirements. The annual distribution requirement applicable to RICs generally is satisfied if we timely distribute at least 90% of our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, if any, to our stockholders on an annual basis. To the extent we use debt financing, we will be subject to certain asset coverage ratio requirements under the 1940 Act and may be subject to

financial covenants under loan and credit agreements, each of which could, under certain circumstances, restrict us from making annual distributions necessary to receive RIC tax treatment. If we are unable to obtain cash from other sources, we may fail to qualify to be taxed as a RIC and, thus, may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our entire taxable income at corporate tax rates without regard to any distributions made by us. In order to be taxed as a RIC, we must also meet certain asset-diversification requirements at the end of each calendar quarter. Failure to meet these tests may result in our having to dispose of certain investments quickly in order to prevent the loss of RIC status. Because most of our investments are in private or thinly traded public companies, any such dispositions could be made at disadvantageous prices and may result in substantial losses. If we fail to be taxed as a RIC for any reason and become subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates, the resulting taxes could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distributions to stockholders and the amount of our distributions and the amount of funds available for new investments. Such a failure would have a material adverse effect on us and our stockholders.

We cannot predict how new tax legislation will affect us, our investments, or our stockholders, and any such legislation could adversely affect our business.

Legislative or other actions relating to taxes could have a negative effect on us. The rules dealing with U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department. The Biden Administration has proposed significant changes to the existing U.S. tax rules, and there are a number of proposals in Congress that would similarly modify the existing U.S. tax rules. The likelihood of any such legislation being enacted is uncertain, but new legislation and any U.S. Treasury regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions interpreting such legislation could significantly and negatively affect our ability to qualify for tax treatment as a RIC or the U.S. federal income tax consequences to us and our investors of such qualification or could have other adverse consequences. Investors are urged to consult with their tax advisor regarding tax legislative, regulatory, or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our common stock.

We may have difficulty paying our required distributions if we recognize income before, or without, receiving cash representing such income.

For U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may be required to recognize taxable income in circumstances in which we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash. For example, since we will likely hold debt obligations that are treated under applicable tax rules as having OID (such as debt instruments with PIK, secondary market purchases of debt securities at a discount to par, interest or, in certain cases, increasing interest rates or debt instruments that were issued with warrants), we must include in income each year a portion of the OID that accrues over the life of the obligation, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by us in the same taxable year. We may also have to include in income other amounts that we have not yet received in cash, such as unrealized appreciation for foreign currency forward contracts and deferred loan origination fees that are paid after origination of the loan or are paid in non-cash compensation such as warrants or stock. Furthermore, we may invest in non-U.S. corporations (or other non-U.S. entities treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that could be treated under the Code and U.S. Treasury regulations as “passive foreign investment companies” and/or “controlled foreign corporations.” The rules relating to investment in these types of non-U.S. entities are designed to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are either, in effect, taxed currently (or on an accelerated basis with respect to corporate-level events) or taxed at increased tax rates at distribution or disposition. In certain circumstances this could require us to recognize income where we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash.

Unrealized appreciation on derivatives, such as foreign currency forward contracts, may be included in taxable income while the receipt of cash may occur in a subsequent period when the related contract expires. Any unrealized depreciation on investments that the foreign currency forward contracts are designed to hedge are not currently deductible for tax purposes. This can result in increased taxable income whereby we may not have sufficient cash to pay distributions or we may opt to retain such taxable income and pay a 4% U.S. federal excise tax. In such cases we could still rely upon the “spillback provisions” to maintain RIC tax treatment.

We anticipate that a portion of our income may constitute OID or other income required to be included in taxable income prior to receipt of cash. Further, we may elect to amortize market discounts with respect to debt securities acquired in the secondary market and include such amounts in our taxable income in the current year,

instead of upon disposition, as an election not to do so would limit our ability to deduct interest expenses for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Because any OID or other amounts accrued will be included in our investment company taxable income for the year of the accrual, we may be required to make a distribution to our shareholders in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, even if we will not have received any corresponding cash amount. As a result, we may have difficulty meeting the Annual Distribution Requirement necessary to maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code. We may have to sell some of our investments at times and/or at prices we would not consider advantageous, raise additional debt or equity capital, make a partial share distribution, or forgo new investment opportunities for this purpose. If we are not able to obtain cash from other sources, and choose not to make a qualifying share distribution, we may fail to qualify for RIC tax treatment and thus become subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate tax rates.

We may choose to pay a portion of our distributions in our own stock, in which case you may be required to pay tax in excess of the cash you receive.

We may distribute taxable distributions that are payable in part in our stock. In accordance with certain applicable Treasury regulations and a revenue procedure issued by the IRS, a publicly offered RIC may treat a distribution of its own stock as fulfilling its RIC distribution requirements if each stockholder may elect to receive his or her entire distribution in either cash or stock of the RIC, subject to a limitation that the aggregate amount of cash to be distributed to all stockholders must be at least 20% of the aggregate declared distribution. A "publicly offered RIC" is a RIC whose shares are (i) continuously offered pursuant to a public offering, (ii) regularly traded on an established securities market, or (iii) held by at least 500 persons at all times during the taxable year. If too many stockholders elect to receive cash, the cash available for distribution must be allocated among the shareholders electing to receive cash (with the balance of the distribution paid in stock). In no event will any stockholder, electing to receive cash, receive the lesser of (a) the portion of the distribution such shareholder has elected to receive in cash or (b) an amount equal to his or her entire distribution times the percentage limitation on cash available for distribution. If these and certain other requirements are met, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the amount of the dividend paid in stock will be equal to the amount of cash that could have been received instead of stock. Taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as ordinary income (or as long-term capital gain or qualified dividend income to the extent such distribution is properly reported as such) to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

As a result of receiving distributions in the form of our common stock, a U.S. stockholder may be required to pay tax with respect to such distributions in excess of any cash received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock such stockholder receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. federal tax with respect to such distributions, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in shares of our common stock. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our stock in order to pay taxes owed on distributions, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of shares of our common stock.

We are subject to risks related to corporate social responsibility.

Our business faces increasing public scrutiny related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) activities, which are increasingly considered to contribute to the long-term sustainability of a company’s performance. A variety of organizations measure the performance of companies on ESG topics, and the results of these assessments are widely publicized. In addition, investments in funds that specialize in companies that perform well in such assessments are increasingly popular, and major institutional investors have publicly emphasized the importance of such ESG measures to their investment decisions.

We risk damage to our brand and reputation if we fail to act responsibly in a number of areas, such as environmental stewardship, corporate governance and transparency and considering ESG factors in our investment processes. Adverse incidents with respect to ESG activities could impact the value of our brand, the cost of our operations and relationships with investors, all of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Additionally, new regulatory initiatives related to ESG could adversely affect our business. The SEC has proposed rules that, among other matters, would establish a framework for reporting of climate-related risks. At this time, there is uncertainty regarding the scope of such proposals or when they would become effective (if at all). Compliance with any new laws or regulations increases our regulatory burden and could make compliance more difficult and expensive, affect the manner in which we or our portfolio companies conduct our businesses and adversely affect our profitability.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, stockholders could lose confidence in our financial and other public reporting, which could harm our business and the market price of our common stock.

We are not required to comply with certain requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including the internal control evaluation and certification requirements of Section 404 of that statute (“Section 404”), and will not be required to comply with all of those requirements until we have been subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act for a specified period of time or, in the case of the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the date we are no longer an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act. Accordingly, our internal controls over financial reporting do not currently meet all of the standards contemplated by Section 404 that we will eventually be required to meet. We are in the process of addressing our internal controls over financial reporting and are establishing formal procedures, policies, processes and practices related to financial reporting and to the identification of key financial reporting risks, assessment of their potential impact and linkage of those risks to specific areas and activities within the Company.

Additionally, we have begun the process of documenting our internal control procedures to satisfy the requirements of Section 404, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until the later of the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act, or the date we are no longer an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act. Because we do not currently have comprehensive documentation of our internal controls and have not yet tested our internal controls in accordance with Section 404, we cannot conclude in accordance with Section 404 that we do not have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting or a combination of significant deficiencies that could result in the conclusion that we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. As a public entity, we will be required to complete our initial management assessment of our internal control over financial reporting in a timely manner. If we are not able to implement the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, our operations, financial reporting, or financial results could be adversely affected. Matters impacting our internal controls may cause us to be unable to report our financial information on a timely basis and thereby subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions by the SEC or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules, and result in a breach of the covenants under the agreements governing any of our financing arrangements. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. Confidence in the reliability of our financial statements could also suffer if we or our independent registered public accounting firm were to report a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This could materially adversely affect us and lead to a decline in the market price of our common stock.

There are significant financial and other resources necessary to comply with the requirements of being a public entity.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and certain requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These requirements may place a strain on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting, which are discussed below. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls, significant resources and management oversight will be required. We have implemented procedures, processes, policies and practices for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. These activities may divert management’s attention from other business concerns, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of

operations and cash flows. We incur significant additional annual expenses related to these steps and, among other things, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees, reporting requirements of the SEC, transfer agent fees, additional administrative expenses, increased auditing and legal fees and similar expenses.

The systems and resources necessary to comply with public company reporting requirements will increase further once we cease to be an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act. As long as we remain an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will remain an emerging growth company for up to five years following an IPO or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues exceed $1.235 billion, (ii) December 31 of the fiscal year that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act which would occur if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter and we have been publicly reporting for at least 12 months or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the preceding three-year period.

We may experience fluctuations in our operating results.

We may experience fluctuations in our operating results due to a number of factors, including our ability or inability to make investments in companies that meet our investment criteria, the interest rate payable on the debt securities we acquire, the default rate on such securities, the level of our expenses, variations in and the timing of the recognition of realized and unrealized gains or losses, the degree to which we encounter competition in our markets and general economic conditions. These occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, the value of your investment in us and our ability to pay distributions to you and our other shareholders.

Changes in laws or regulations governing our operations may adversely affect our business or cause us to alter our business strategy.

We and our portfolio companies are subject to laws and regulations at the local, state, and federal levels. These laws and regulations, as well as their interpretation, could change from time to time, including as the result of interpretive guidance or other directives from the U.S. President and others in the executive branch, and new laws, regulations and interpretations could also come into effect. For example, the current U.S. presidential administration could support an enhanced regulatory agenda that imposes greater costs on all sectors and on financial services companies in particular. Any such new or changed laws or regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, and political uncertainty could increase regulatory uncertainty in the near term. For example, on August 16, 2022, the Biden Administration enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which modifies key aspects of the Code, including by creating an alternative minimum tax on certain large corporations and an excise tax on stock repurchases by certain corporations. We are currently assessing the potential impact of these legislative changes. Any new or changed laws or regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, and political uncertainty could increase regulatory uncertainty in the near term.

Changes to the laws and regulations governing our permitted investments may require a change to our investment strategy. Such changes could differ materially from our strategies and plans as set forth in this report and may shift our investment focus from the areas of expertise of our management team and investment professionals. Thus, any such changes, if they occur, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of an investment in us.

Over the last several years, there also has been an increase in regulatory attention to the extension of credit outside of the traditional banking sector, raising the possibility that some portion of the non-bank financial sector will be subject to new regulation. While it cannot be known at this time whether any regulation will be implemented or what form it will take, increased regulation of non-bank credit extension could negatively impact our operations, cash flows or financial condition, impose additional costs on us, intensify the regulatory supervision of us or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Terrorist attacks, acts of war, global health emergencies, or extreme weather conditions or other natural disasters, including as a result of global climate change, may impact the businesses in which we invest and harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Terrorist acts, acts of war, global health emergencies, or extreme weather conditions or other natural disasters, including as a result of global climate change, may disrupt our operations, as well as the operations of the businesses in which we invest. Such acts have created, and continue to create, economic and political uncertainties and have contributed to global economic instability. Future terrorist activities, military or security operations, global health emergencies, or extreme weather conditions or other natural disasters, including as a result of global climate change, could further weaken the domestic/global economies and create additional uncertainties, which may negatively impact the businesses in which we invest directly or indirectly and, in turn, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Losses from terrorist attacks, global health emergencies, and extreme weather conditions or other natural disasters are generally uninsurable. The nature and level of extreme weather conditions or other natural disasters cannot be predicted and may be exacerbated by global climate change.

Internal and external cybersecurity threats, as well as other disasters, may adversely affect our business or the business of our portfolio companies by impairing the ability to conduct business effectively.

Cybersecurity incidents and cyber-attacks have been occurring globally at a more frequent and severe level, and will likely continue to increase in frequency in the future. The occurrence of a disaster, such as a cyber-attack against us or against a third party that has access to our data or networks, a natural catastrophe, an industrial accident, failure of our disaster recovery systems, or consequential employee error, could have an adverse effect on our ability to communicate or conduct business, negatively impacting our operations and financial condition. This adverse effect can become particularly acute if those events affect our electronic data processing, transmission, storage, and retrieval systems, or impact the availability, integrity, or confidentiality of our data.

We, and our portfolio companies, depend heavily upon computer systems to perform necessary business functions. Despite our implementation of a variety of security measures, our computer systems, networks, and data, like those of other companies, could be subject to cyber-attacks and unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction, such as from physical and electronic break-ins or unauthorized tampering. If one or more of these events occurs, it could potentially jeopardize the confidential, proprietary, and other information processed, stored in, and transmitted through our computer systems and networks. Such an attack could cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, which could result in financial losses, litigation, regulatory penalties, client dissatisfaction or loss, reputational damage, and increased costs associated with mitigation of damages and remediation.

Third parties with which we do business may also be sources of cybersecurity or other technological risk. We outsource certain functions, and these relationships allow for the storage and processing of our information, as well as client, counterparty, employee, and borrower information. While we engage in actions to reduce our exposure resulting from outsourcing, ongoing threats may result in unauthorized access, loss, exposure, destruction, or other cybersecurity incidents that adversely affects our data, resulting in increased costs and other consequences as described above.

Moreover, the increased use of mobile and cloud technologies due to the proliferation of remote work resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could heighten these and other operational risks as certain aspects of the security of such technologies may be complex and unpredictable. Reliance on mobile or cloud technology or any failure by mobile technology and cloud service providers to adequately safeguard their systems and prevent cyber-attacks could disrupt our operations, the operations of a portfolio company or the operations of our or their service providers and result in misappropriation, corruption or loss of personal, confidential or proprietary information or the inability to conduct ordinary business operations. In addition, there is a risk that encryption and other protective measures may be circumvented, particularly to the extent that new computing technologies increase the speed and computing power available. An extended period of remote working, whether by us, our portfolio companies, or our third-party providers, could strain technology resources and introduce operational risks, including heightened cybersecurity risk. Remote working environments may be less secure and more susceptible to hacking attacks, including phishing and social engineering attempts. Accordingly, the risks described above are heightened under current conditions.

In addition, cybersecurity has become a top priority for global lawmakers and regulators, and some jurisdictions have proposed or enacted laws requiring companies to notify regulators and individuals of data security breaches involving certain types of personal data. Compliance with such laws and regulations may result in cost increases due to system changes and the development of new administrative processes. If we fail to comply with the relevant and increasing laws and regulations, we could suffer financial losses, a disruption of our businesses, liability to investors, regulatory intervention or reputational damage.