Black Lion Group

What Black Lion Group does

Black Lion Group is a privately-held family office founded in 2019 by Alex Schmid and headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with a regional office in London through Black Lion Capital LLP. The firm operates as an evergreen investment vehicle providing bespoke capital solutions across private equity, venture capital, and private debt, targeting opportunities in special situations, distressed debt, SME credit, real estate opportunistic credit, non-performing loans, speciality finance, and real assets. Geographically, the firm focuses on the UK, Western Europe, Nordics, and Northern Europe, served by a team of 11-50 employees based across Zug and London.

The firm's disclosed portfolio spans seven companies across multiple sectors. ThinCats is a UK SME alternative lending platform that has cumulatively provided £1.2 billion in funding to mid-sized SMEs using a proprietary risk model called PRISM. Matter Real Estate, founded in 2021, invests in value-add and opportunistic real estate across Northern Europe with over £350 million AUM as of 2021. TreasurySpring is a fintech company operating a Fixed-Term Fund (FTF) platform connecting cash-rich firms with institutional borrowers; it grew AUM 2.6x, staff 100%, and client base 80% in 2022. Additional portfolio companies include ESO Capital (speciality finance), Placefirst (residential development), Funeral Safe (funeral services), and Black Lion Ventures (the firm's early-stage VC sub-brand).

Black Lion Group generates returns through capital appreciation, dividends, and exit transactions on its portfolio investments. As a family office with an evergreen structure, the firm is not constrained by traditional fund time limits, allowing long-term value capture from illiquid, less efficient, and smaller-end opportunities. Deal sourcing is relationship-driven and primarily inbound through founder networks and portfolio referrals, with bespoke investment structuring tailored to individual opportunities. The firm does not charge external management fees because there are no external limited partners; its economics are entirely tied to the performance of its portfolio companies.

Name

Black Lion Group

Legal name

Black Lion Group AG

Website

https://blackliongroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Black Lion Group is a Swiss-based evergreen family office founded by Alex Schmid that provides bespoke private equity, venture capital, and debt financing across the UK and Northern Europe. It invests in seven disclosed portfolio companies spanning SME lending, real estate, fintech, and early-stage ventures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity / Family Office Investment Services

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

akta.pro primary industry

Captive CVC Fund (Dedicated corporate fund structure) (FSANAHAB)

Keywords

• Private equity investments
• Venture capital
• Debt financing
• Family office
• Alternative lending

Headquarters

HQ city

Zug

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Equity and Venture Capital Returns: Black Lion Group generates returns through equity investments in portfolio companies, including ThinCats, Matter Real Estate, TreasurySpring, ESO Capital, Placefirst, Funeral Safe, and Black Lion Ventures. Returns are realized through capital appreciation, dividends, and exit transactions.
2. Private Debt Investments: Returns from debt investments including special situation investments, distressed debt, SME and real estate opportunistic credit, NPLs, speciality finance and real assets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Black Lion Group is a family office that makes bespoke direct investments across private equity, venture capital, and private debt. Operating as an evergreen vehicle with a flexible mandate, it targets special situations, SME credit, real assets, and early-stage ventures in UK, Western Europe and the Nordics, partnering closely with management teams rather than running time-constrained funds.

Product overview

Black Lion Group operates as a single unified family office offering bespoke capital solutions across private equity, venture capital, and debt investments. The group consists of the core Black Lion Group entity and its sub-brand Black Lion Ventures. As an evergreen vehicle with a flexible mandate, the company provides long-term capital without arbitrary constraints on time or size, working closely with portfolio companies to fulfill business potential.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Black Lion Ventures: Venture capital arm of Black Lion Group focused on investing in early-stage companies with passionate entrepreneurs and innovative business models

Products and services

• Black Lion Group Family Office Evergreen family office making direct private equity, venture capital, and private debt investments in entrepreneurs and businesses across the UK, Western Europe and the Nordics. It structures bespoke capital solutions without arbitrary time or size constraints and works in close collaboration with portfolio management teams.
• Black Lion Ventures Venture capital arm of Black Lion Group investing in early-stage companies led by domain-expert founders. The unit brings a network of partners ready to support portfolio companies with fresh ideas and execution knowledge.

Quantifiable outcome

• £1.2 billion+ in SME funding provided
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Investcorp: Alternative investment firm with private equity, private credit, real estate and absolute return strategies across Europe, US and MENA. Comparable multi-asset, multi-region alternative-investor profile.
• Partners Group: Global private markets firm investing in private equity, private debt, infrastructure and real estate with flexible, customized solutions. Closely comparable in bespoke, flexible structuring ethos and diversified alternative mandate.
• Hayfin Capital Management: European-headquartered private credit specialist managing direct lending and special situations funds. Comparable to Black Lion's debt-oriented exposure through ESO Capital and ThinCats.
• Intermediate Capital Group (ICG): Listed alternative asset manager focused on private debt, mezzanine, and special situations across Europe. Comparable to Black Lion's focus on private debt, special situations and SME credit via ThinCats and ESO Capital.
• Alcentra: Global alternative credit manager (part of BNY Mellon) focused on middle-market direct lending, mezzanine, distressed and special situations. Closely comparable to Black Lion's SME lending and special situations mandates.
• Tikehau Capital: European alternative asset manager spanning private debt, private equity, real estate and liquid strategies. Similar multi-strategy European footprint to Black Lion's PE/VC/debt mix across UK and Western Europe.
• Caledonia (Private Investments): Single-family office making direct private investments across PE, public equities and real assets. Highly comparable to Black Lion Group's evergreen, founder-led model with a flexible mandate and direct portfolio construction.

Broad incumbents

• Bain Capital: Global alternative investment firm across private equity, credit, venture and real estate. Comparable in multi-strategy private markets coverage, though materially larger than the Black Lion family office.
• EQT: Large European-headquartered private equity and alternative asset manager with strong Nordic heritage. Comparable regional focus and breadth of strategies (PE, VC, infrastructure, credit) to Black Lion.
• Ares Management: Major global alternative investment manager spanning credit, PE, real estate and secondaries. Comparable to Black Lion's broad PE/credit/real-estate exposure, though at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-black-lion-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Black Lion Group