Kara Conway
Bootstrap Europe, Vice President
Speaker Bio
Bootstrap Europe is a specialist technology lender that empowers high-growth industries across Europe through tailored growth financing. From Deeptech and Life Sciences to Medtech, B2B SaaS, and Fintech, Bootstrap backs some of Europe’s most dynamic and socially impactful scale-ups. Its flexible financing solutions enable companies to scale efficiently while minimizing dilution for founders, management teams, and shareholders.
With a track record of over €1 billion invested in more than 250 companies across 12 European jurisdictions, the team brings deep expertise and strong execution capabilities. In 2023, Bootstrap expanded its presence through the acquisition of the German operations of the former Silicon Valley Bank.
Beyond its core private credit strategy, Bootstrap was selected by the UK government's Invest in Women Taskforce to manage Bootstrap4F, a dedicated Fund of Funds initiative. Bootstrap4F channels capital to the highest-performing emerging GPs led by women and mixed teams in the UK venture ecosystem—reinforcing Bootstrap’s commitment to diversity, performance, and long-term systemic change in venture capital.
Bootstrap is supported by leading institutions including the European Investment Fund (EIF), British Business Investments (BBI), the Visa Foundation, and a broad, diversified base of limited partners—ranging from prominent U.S. endowments to European asset managers and successful entrepreneurs.
Kara joined Bootstrap Europe as a Vice President in 2024, where she now oversees the entire deal cycle—from sourcing and diligence to execution and portfolio management. Prior to this, Kara was an investor at Claret Capital Partners, where she completed over €180 million in venture loans across nine countries, focusing on sectors such as Cleantech, Deeptech, Medtech, SaaS, Marketplaces, Fintech, and Industry 4.0.
Kara’s entrepreneurial journey began at “1871”, Chicago’s largest tech incubator, where she worked for a failed start-up, attempting to revitalise the market for charitable giving. She later co-founded an apparel company for breast cancer survivors, providing unique shaping solutions with patented designs. Following this, Kara worked in banking at HSBC in both New York and London, specialising in Corporate and Leveraged Finance, focusing on debt structuring for private equity-backed transactions.