EstateGuru reports 50pc rise in annual lending volumes

EstateGuru saw its lending volumes increase by 50 per cent year-on-year to €120.2m (£106.4m) in 2020, boosted by a bumper performance in the fourth quarter.

The European peer-to-peer lender said its loan volumes increased by 102.71 per cent to €48.3m in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year and revenues increased by 133.43 per cent to €1.8m.

It also reported a solid inflow of new investors, with 31,038 individuals joining the platform in 2020 – a 53 per cent increase from 2019.

8968 new investors joined EstateGuru during the fourth quarter of 2020. The biggest number of new investors came from Germany. EstateGuru said that Germany is a focus market for 2021, having opened a Berlin Office last November.

Read more: EstateGuru partners with Varengold to enter German market

“The Covid-crisis is boosting innovation and change and we see that doing things digitally is becoming the new normal,” said Marek Partel, co-founder and chief executive of EstateGuru.

“It also means that business models like EstateGuru’s will be enhanced and taken into the crowds. People are more open than ever to fintechs and new business models, and this forms part of a global trend.”

Investors earned €2.4m of interest during the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to €1.8m in the fourth quarter of 2019. The average return last year was 10.95 per cent.

“I’m very proud of the stable quality of our credit portfolio,” said Partel.

“Due to the second wave of coronavirus, we witnessed a slight increase in delays of repayments, but in general, the loan portfolio is healthy and we don’t expect any significant negative change in the borrower payment behaviour.”

Read more: EstateGuru secures institutional credit line for Baltic loans

Partel reaffirmed EstateGuru’s ambition to become Europe’s largest property finance platform by 2025 – a plan the firm shared during its crowdfunding campaign with Seedrs in Spring last year.

“We have delivered on our promises – Finland and Germany have both successfully launched, the technology roadmap has been enhanced and we’ve just hired a director of capital markets who will take the lead in developing this area and driving institutional investments,” he said. “As we believe in the power of the crowd and alternative financing, we are considering a second round of fundraising in the near future to leverage our achievements and to take us to the new heights.”