Mintos, an alternative investment platform for investing in loans in Europe, is launching its first-ever crowdfunding campaign. The round is set to commence in the second part of November and will be done through Crowdcube, an equity-based crowdfunding platform.
“Demand for alternative investments has grown, since the interest rates on deposits have been persistently low and equity markets have become crowded—leaving retail investors with very few good options,” said Martins Sulte, CEO and cofounder of Mintos. “In the past, when retail investors did look at alternative investments, they often found that these came with high minimum investments and high fees that kept them out of the mass market. Current demand is for modern solutions that are both accessible and not correlated with traditional assets. Mintos’ goal is to offer loans as a new alternative investment type, fitting retail investor needs.”
There is still a huge market opportunity ahead of the company. In the European Union alone, retail investors hold investments worth €7 trillion. Mintos believes it is in a great position to meet this increasing demand for alternative investments and to capitalize on the rise of non-bank lending.
Over the next few years, the global crowdlending market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 29.7 per cent, from €57 billion in 2019 to €472 billion by 2027. And from a broader view, global non-bank lending—in other words, the loan supply potentially available for investing—is already worth more than €3 trillion.
“Our investor community has played an important role in our success so far—we appreciate it very much, as it constantly drives us forward and allows us to come up with innovative new solutions,” said Mr. Sulte. “To say thank you, we have allocated a limited part of this round for crowdfunding and give investors on Mintos an opportunity to become a part of our growing company.”
Up until now, Mintos has raised €7 million from angel investors, funding most of its growth by revenue. Since launching in 2015, the company holds about 45 per cent of the market, it said in a release.
Mintos is also steadily approaching another milestone in the company’s short history—becoming a fully regulated marketplace. Acquiring both the Investment Firm and the Electronic Money Institution licenses will increase transparency and allow to significantly expand investor base, as well as introduce new products and functionality.
“As we add new products we eventually see us becoming the primary financial relationship to the next generation of investors,” said Mr Sulte.
