Guide · 2026
How to find private credit lenders
Finding the right private credit lender is a filtering problem: define your deal precisely, screen the whole book down to the few dozen built for it, verify they’re reachable, then contact them in a structured sequence. Here’s the process that works.
Define the deal before you search
Amount, structure (senior, unitranche, mezzanine…), sector, geography, and what the capital does. Lenders screen on exactly these four axes — if you're vague, your list will be too.
Screen for check-size fit first
The #1 filter is whether your ask sits inside the fund's stated range. A $15M raise pitched to a $100M–$500M fund dies on arrival, no matter how good the story is.
Rank tight books over wide books
A fund whose range brackets your ask tightly treats your deal as a core position. A mega-fund that merely spans it treats you as a rounding error — response rates differ accordingly.
Verify the fund is real and active
Check for a live website, recent deals, and named deal-team people. A surprising share of lender lists contain dead or rebranded funds.
Reach the deal team, not the inbox
Named origination/investment professionals beat info@ addresses by an order of magnitude. Confirm emails are deliverable before you write a word.
Contact lenders in sequence
A two-page teaser, a one-paragraph ask, a tight list of 15–30 funds. Track responses; follow up once. Banker-run processes add materials, diligence management, and negotiation.
Common questions
Is there a platform to find lenders?
Yes. This site is a free private-credit matcher over 1,557 funds. SMB marketplaces such as Lendio, Fundera, and Biz2Credit serve smaller working-capital and SBA loans. This site is not a lender.
How many lenders should I contact for a raise?
For a $5M–$100M raise, a qualified list of 15–30 well-fitted funds outperforms a blast to hundreds. Fit on size, structure, sector, and geography beats volume every time.
Is there a free way to find matching lenders?
Yes — this site's lender matcher scores 1,557 active funds against your deal in about a minute, free with no account, and shows the reasoning per fund.
When should I hire a debt advisor or placement agent?
When the raise is large ($20M+), complex (multiple tranches, project finance), or time-critical — or when you've run a process and gotten weak terms. Advisors earn their fee on structure and negotiation, not lists.
Skip steps 2–4 — run the screen in about a minute
Describe your deal once; the engine scores all 1,557 funds on size, structure, sector, and geography. Free.
Related