Hercules Capital Receives Confirmed BBB Investment Grade Rating from Morningstar DBRS

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Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC) (“Hercules” or the “Company”), the largest and leading specialty financing provider to innovative venture, growth and established stage companies backed by some of the leading and top-tier venture capital and select private equity firms, today announced that Morningstar DBRS (“DBRS”) has confirmed Hercules’ investment grade credit and corporate rating of BBB with a trend revision from Stable to Positive, as well as its underlying analysis._x000D_
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“We are very pleased that DBRS has confirmed our BBB investment grade credit and corporate rating and revised the outlook to positive,” stated Seth Meyer, chief financial officer of Hercules. “This rating reflects the scale of our differentiated and diversified venture and growth stage lending business model and our commitment to disciplined underwriting which is exemplified in our financial and operational excellence.”_x000D_
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The confirmed BBB rating with a trend revision to Positive reflects the Company’s continued solid franchise as a marquee lender in the VC financing ecosystem with a scaled on balance sheet investment portfolio. Historical credit performance has been strong, underpinned by a well-designed risk management framework, and demonstrated solid underwriting and portfolio monitoring performance across multiple economic cycles. The Company also has a broad, diversified funding profile and conservative regulatory leverage.