Exhibit 99.1

KCAP Financial, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2015 Financial Results

NEW YORK, May 6, 2015 – KCAP Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq GS: KCAP) announces its first quarter 2015 financial results.

Financial Highlights

Dayl Pearson, President and Chief Executive Officer of KCAP Financial, Inc., noted, “We are pleased with our first quarter results, and the performance and credit profile of our direct lending business remains strong. In addition, our asset management business priced Catamaran CLO 2015-1 in the first quarter. That transaction, a $464 million CLO, successfully closed on May 5.”

Operating Results

For the three months ended March 31, 2015, we reported total investment income of approximately $12 million as compared to approximately $10 million in the same period last year, an increase of 23%. Investment income from debt securities increased 18% to approximately $6.2 million from approximately $5.2 million in the first quarter 2014. Investment income from investments in CLO fund securities in the first quarter of 2015 increased to $4.6 million from $3.1 million in 2014, an increase of 45%, and dividends from our Asset Manager Affiliates (“AMAs”) in the first quarter of 2015 remained consistent at approximately $1.4 million as compared to the first quarter of 2014. Our AMAs also declared additional distributions of $1.3 million in the quarter.

For the three months ended March 31, 2015, total expenses were higher by approximately $300,000 as compared to the same period in 2014, primarily attributable to costs incurred in connection with the restatement.

Net investment income for the first quarter of 2015 and 2014 was approximately $6.5 million and $4.5 million, or $0.18 per basic share and $0.13 per basic share, respectively. Net realized and unrealized appreciation on investments for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was approximately $1.2 million, as compared to approximately $1.0 million depreciation for the same period in 2014.

Portfolio and Investment Activity

The fair value of our portfolio was approximately $488 million as of March 31, 2015. The composition of our investment portfolio at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 at cost and fair value was as follows:

¹ Calculated as a percentage of Net Asset Value.

² Represents the equity investment in the Asset Manager Affiliates.

³ Includes restricted cash held under employee benefit plans.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

At March 31, 2015, we had unrestricted cash and money market balances of approximately $3.3 million, total assets of approximately $505 million and stockholders’ equity of approximately $264 million. Our net asset value per common share was $7.16. As of March 31, 2015, we had $224 million of borrowings outstanding (net of discount of $3.4 million) with a weighted average interest rate of approximately 4.4%.

Subject to prevailing market conditions, we intend to grow our portfolio of assets by raising additional capital, including through the prudent use of leverage available to us. As a result, we may seek to enter into new agreements with other lenders or into other financing arrangements as market conditions permit. Such financing arrangements may include a new secured and/or unsecured credit facility or the issuance of unsecured debt or preferred stock.

Distributions

Generally, we seek to fund distributions to shareholders from current distributable earnings, primarily from net investment income generated by our investment portfolio. We announced a regular quarterly distribution of $0.21 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. The record date for this distribution was April 6, 2015 and the distribution was paid on April 27, 2015. An estimate of the tax attributes of distributions made on a quarterly basis may not be representative of the actual tax attributes of distributions for a full year. Tax characteristics of all distributions will be reported to stockholders on Form 1099-DIV after the end of the calendar year.

We have adopted a dividend reinvestment plan that provides for reinvestment of distributions in shares of our common stock, unless a stockholder elects to receive cash. As a result, if we declare a cash distribution, shareholders who have not “opted out” of our dividend reinvestment plan will have their cash distributions automatically reinvested in additional shares of our common stock, rather than receiving cash. For more information regarding our distributions, please refer to our 2014 annual report on Form 10-K. Please contact your broker or other financial intermediary for more information regarding the dividend reinvestment plan.

Supplemental Information: Analysis of Shareholder Distributions

On a supplemental basis, we are providing information relating to our shareholder distributions. The Company believes that taxable distributable income as reported in our financial statement footnotes is an important measure for investors. The Company may not distribute all of its taxable distributable income, or may over-distribute during any period.

The following table¹ depicts the composition of shareholder distributions on a per share basis for the quarters ended March 31, 2015 and 2014:

Conference Call and Webcast

We will hold a conference call on Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss our first quarter 2015 financial results. Shareholders, prospective shareholders and analysts are welcome to listen to the call or attend the webcast.

The conference call dial-in number is (866) 757-5630. No password is required. A live audio webcast of the conference call can be accessed via the Internet, on a listen-only basis on our Company’s website www.kcapfinancial.com in the Investor Relations section under Events. The online archive of the webcast will be available after 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time for approximately 90 days.

A replay of this conference call will be available from 12:00 p.m. on May 7, 2015 until 11:59 p.m. on May 14, 2015. The dial in number for the replay is (855) 859-2056 and the conference ID is 40844943.

About KCAP Financial, Inc.

KCAP Financial, Inc. is a publicly traded, internally managed business development company. The Company’s middle market investment business originates, structures, finances and manages a portfolio of term loans, mezzanine investments and selected equity securities in middle market companies. The Company’s wholly owned portfolio companies, Trimaran Advisors, L.L.C. and Katonah Debt Advisors, L.L.C., manage collateralized debt obligation funds that invest in broadly syndicated corporate term loans, high-yield bonds and other credit instruments.

The KCAP Financial, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3121

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The matters discussed in this press release that are forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations that involve substantial risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. We generally identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,’’ “will,’’ “should,’’ “expects,’’ “plans,’’ “anticipates,’’ “could,’’ “intends,’’ “target,’’ “projects,’’ “contemplates,’’ “believes,’’ “estimates,’’ “predicts,’’ “potential’’ or “continue’’ or the negative of these terms or other similar words. Further information about factors that could affect our financial and other results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required to be reported under the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

KCAP FINANCIAL, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

KCAP FINANCIAL, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(unaudited)