FIDUS INVESTMENT Corp

Stockholders and Board of Directors of Fidus Investment Corporation and Subsidiaries

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of assets and liabilities of Fidus Investment Corporation and Subsidiaries (the Company), including the consolidated schedules of investments, as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes, which include the senior securities table, to the consolidated financial statements (collectively, the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the results of its operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013, and our report dated March 6, 2025, expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, by correspondence with the custodians, portfolio companies or agents or by other appropriate procedures where replies from custodians, portfolio companies or agents were not received. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Valuation of Level 3 Investments

As discussed in Notes 2 and 4 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company measures substantially all of its investments at fair value using unobservable inputs and assumptions as there is no readily available market value. Due to the use of unobservable inputs and assumptions in determining fair value, these investments are classified as level 3 within the fair value hierarchy and total $1,090,506 thousand as of December 31, 2024.

We identified the valuation of level 3 investments as a critical audit matter because of certain significant assumptions management makes in determining the estimate, including the selected valuation techniques, revenue, earnings or asset coverage multiples, and discount rates. Auditing management’s valuation techniques and assumptions of revenue, earnings or asset coverage multiples and the discount rate involved a high degree of auditor judgment and increased audit effort, including the use of valuation specialists, as changes in these assumptions could have a significant impact on the fair value of the level 3 investments.

Our audit procedures related to the Company’s valuation of level 3 investments included the following, among others:

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We evaluated the appropriateness of management’s valuation techniques, such as the discounted cash flow or enterprise value, and management’s asset coverage analysis. We also evaluated whether assumptions used by management, including revenue, earnings, or asset coverage multiples, and discount rates, were reasonable by comparing and calibrating these inputs to purchase data and market information obtained from external sources while considering portfolio company specific factors like performance. For a selection of investments, we utilized valuation specialists to perform this evaluation.

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For a select number of investments, we developed an independent fair value estimate which was compared to management’s estimate.

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We evaluated the Company’s historical ability to estimate fair value by comparing the fair value as estimated by management against sale transactions, taking into consideration changes in market or investment specific factors, where applicable and available.

/s/RSM US LLP

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2007.

Chicago, Illinois

March 6, 2025

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Fidus Investment Corporation and Subsidiaries

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited Fidus Investment Corporation and Subsidiaries’ (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013.. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated statements of assets and liabilities, including the consolidated schedules of investments, as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes, which include the senior securities table, to the consolidated financial statements (collectively, the financial statements) of the Company and our report dated March 6, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ RSM US LLP

Chicago, Illinois

March 6, 2025