Alternative Investment Articles

Online P2P lending began in 2005 with the launch of Zopa in the UK. Back then “shady”, or "niche" at best, was eagerly used words to describe the sector. Fifteen years on, people lend and borrow billions. Here is the history of P2P Lending.

Dive into the Funding Report for April 2023, where we examine monthly volumes, industry trends, and other data to keep you informed on the ever-evolving crowdfunding landscape.

A Buyback Guarantee obliges loan originators to buy back overdue loans from investors. The buyback guarantee is a protection mechanism for retail investors and is also often referred to as a buyback obligation. All buyback guarantees aim to protect investors from non-performing loans and to recover the investments from borrower default. This article will teach you everything you need to know about Buyback Guarantees.

Rendity is a well-established real estate lending platform. It launched in 2015 in Austria and has since funded more than €125m worth of loans. The 198 fully funded real estate projects have been offered with an average nominal interest rate of 6.4%...

Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) is an innovative form of borrowing and investing money without the involvement of traditional financial institutions. P2P lending is also known as "social lending", "lending-based crowdfunding", or "crowd lending". Learn how it works.

Income Marketplace (or Income) is a fast-growing player in European marketplace lending. It launched in early 2021 and offers debt investment from loan originators based in Northern Europe and emerging markets of Asia and Latin America. It has funded...

Afranga is a loan originator-owned debt investment platform by Stikcredit. The platform was launched in early 2021 and offers retail investors short-term Bulgarian personal debt in fractions of €10 exclusively from the parent company Stikcredit. Afra...

Secondary markets are financial marketplaces where investors trade previously issued assets like stocks and bonds. These markets enable securities exchange between investors, driving prices toward their actual value and providing liquidity.

What happened last month in the alternative investment markets? We take a look at numbers reported to P2P Market Data in March 2023 and dive deeper into this month’s special focus: European markets for alternative investments.

Letsinvest is a relatively new player in the real estate lending market that is supervised by the Bank of Lithuania. It launched in 2021 and offers real estate and green energy debt investments in Lithuania for investors in the European Economic Area...

Max Crowdfund is a fairly new player in the European marketplace lending market. It opened in 2020 in the Netherlands, offering investments in real estate loans. The platform has funded more than 150 real estate projects worth beyond €45 million in l...

In balance sheet lending (also called portfolio lending), the platform entity provides a loan directly to a consumer or business borrower. The loan is on the platforms balance sheet. The loan process is direct, like working with a bank.