Crowdestor Review 2026

What is Crowdestor?

Crowdestor is an Estonian-based crowdfunding platform founded in December 2017, where investors can fund a variety of business loans from different sectors, while earning an average return of 20.35% (according to the platform).

The interest rates of the projects offered on Crowdestor are just as high as the default rates, which is well illustrating the connection between high returns and high risk.

Crowdestor at a Glance

All key facts and figures about Crowdestor at a glance.

The Origin Story

Crowdestor was founded in 2017 by the two Latvians, Janis Timma (CEO) and Gunars Udris, who had known each other since their school days. Janis Timma was the driving force behind the idea of founding a crowdfunding platform, having previously worked for 8 years in a law firm in the field of mergers & acquisitions.

Through his focus on the energy sector, where he also leads a company as chairman (Eco Energy Riga), he recognised the lack of equity capital in many projects, so he wanted to close the financing gap with his own platform. The idea of Crowdestor was born.

Business Model

How does Crowdestor earn money? Crowdestor earns its money through different fees charged to borrowers. According to the website, the revenue is divided into the following aspects:

• 3+% commission and arrangement fee
• 2% restructuring and renewal fee
• 0.1% administration fee
• 10% to 14% realisation fee

Crowdestor News

P2P lending is a dynamic asset class where investors should stay continuously informed. You will find the latest news on Crowdestor on my P2P lending news page, where I cover other P2P platforms as well.

Alternatively, you can subscribe to my Telegram channel or WhatsApp group (both free of charge) to receive real-time updates as soon as new developments emerge.

Shareholder and Management

Who are the main shareholders and management executives behind Crowdestor? Let’s have a look!

Crowdestor Shareholder

Who owns Crowdestor? In the Estonian company register, Janis Timma is listed as the sole shareholder of Crowdestor OÜ. There are no other partners or shareholders.

Crowdestor Management

Janis Timma is the CEO and the face of Crowdestor. Born in Latvia, Timma first worked for a number of auditors (PwC, BDO) after studying financial management. During this time he built up his own companies in the energy sector (Heat and Power Plant Association of Latvia, Eco Energy Riga). In 2017, he founded the P2P platform Crowdestor, of which he is still CEO today.

Investing on Crowdestor

How does Crowdestor work and what should investors know and consider when investing on the plaform? In the following sections of my Crowdestor review you will find all the necessary information that you need.

Loan Offering

On Crowdestor, the loan projects are divided into three segments:

• SME Loans: These are loans of up to a maximum of EUR 200,000 that are granted to small and medium-sized enterprises. These loans are usually secured by a personal guarantee of the borrower.ß
• Specialised Projects: These are special projects from the energy sector, forestry, show business or the entertainment industry. These loans are usually secured by a commercial lien on the business assets or intellectual property copyrights.
• Real Estate Projects: These loans are relatively self-explanatory. They are usually secured by a first-rank mortgage. Amortisation occurs towards the end of the term.

Costs and Fees

There are no costs or hidden fees for the most important functions when using Crowdestor. Both deposits and withdrawals are free, as is investing on the platform itself. Only when using the secondary market, where projects can be bought and sold, sellers pay a 2% transaction fee.

Expected Returns

On its website, Crowdestor advertises an average expected return of around 20%. To achieve this return is extremely questionable, considering the poor performance of the loan portfolio.

It is certainly possible to achieve an above-average return, provided one has selected the right loans.

However, a look at the statistics makes it clear that broad diversification should not lead to a positive return.

Of the 340 loans in the current outstanding loan portfolio, only 26% are being repaid according to schedule. 55% are in delay, the majority of which are 90+ days. 19%, on the other hand, are already in the recovery process.

Based on these figures, an average expected return of 20% seems absolutely delusional.

Crowdestor Auto Invest

Since 2021, Crowdestor also offers an Auto Invest feature. For many years, the company had refrained from doing so because a) they wanted to encourage investors to take a closer look at the loans and b) because many projects might not have been financed otherwise. However, since demand has remained consistently high, the company finally gave in to investors’ wishes.

At Crowdestor, you can invest in loans starting at EUR 50.

Provision Fund

There is no buyback guarantee on Crowdestor. However, the company has set up a Provision Fund (formerly: Buyback Fund) to absorb credit losses. The way it works is that Crowdestor independently invests 0.5% of the loan amount into the fund.

Investors can track the status of the Provision Fund on the website. However, investors should be prepared that they have to bear 100% of the credit default risk themselves.

Crowdestor Taxes

Generally, interest income generated by loan financing is considered investment income and thus must be declared as such in the tax return. Crowdestor does not withhold taxes at the moment.

Investors can download tax reports for their tax returns via the main menu under “Profile”.

Crowdestor Risks

Investors should look very carefully at the potential risk factors when evaluating a P2P platform. What is it that investors need to be aware of when it comes to Crowdestor? Where are the underlying risks and how are they assessed?

Financial Stability

The financial stability of a P2P platform is a key risk factor. Is Crowdestor already able to operate profitably? And how well is the company positioned financially?

Profitability

Is Crowdestor profitable? Crowdestor publishes annual reports for previous years on its website.

However, these are neither prepared by an external auditor nor was the reporting carried out using IFRS methodology. The informative value of the platform’s financial situation is therefore severely limited.

According to the annual report for 2022, the P2P platform generated revenue of EUR 232,000 (previous year: EUR 1 million). The loss in this period totalled EUR 646,000 (previous year: profit of EUR 75,000).

Covid-19 Pandemic / Corona Crisis

Borrowers on Crowdestor have been affected very badly by the Corona pandemic, with many of them unable to service their repayments due to a lack of revenue. After consultation with the affected Crowdestor investors, the company has decided to grant borrowers a three-month interest moratorium and to defer payments.

However, many loans are still in default two years after the pandemic outbreak, so a number of capital losses are to be expected. On the positive side, Crowdestor made a much better effort to communicate more openly with its investors after the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic. However, this effect has subsequently failed to materialise.

Is Crowdestor a Safe P2P Platform?

In general, Crowdestor cannot be considered as a safe P2P platform. Here is an overview of the risks to be aware of:

• Crowdestor is not regulated, controlled or supervised by any supervisory authority. Obtaining an ECSP licence seems impossible at the current time.
• There is no proper segregation of investor and company funds. Misuse is theoretically possible.
• No deposit insurance. Total default is also a theoretical possibility.
• The platform advertises and promotes unrealistic returns.
• No audited business reports are published.
• The platform does not offer any communication on defaulted loan projects.
• The performance of the loan portfolio is extremely bad and, in addition, there are hardly any verifiable successes in recoveries.
• Frequent conflicts of interest between the shareholder and the borrowers.

Advantages and Disadvantages

In this section, I have listed the most important advantages and disadvantages of Crowdestor.

Summary Crowdestor Review 2025

Crowdestor is neither suitable for conservative investors nor for newcomers.

In theory, you can get an above-average return if you can distinguish good loans from bad loans in your due diligence.

The fact that 75% of the Crowdestor portfolio is either delayed or in recovery illustrates that a diversified investment will inevitably lead to a loss of capital.

The poor performance of the loan portfolio, conflicts of interest, lack of transparency and poor recovery quality are all arguments why investors should definitely keep their hands off Crowdestor.

Although some projects sound quite exciting, the overall risk is not worth trusting your money to the platform.

On this page you will find a variety of better P2P platforms to chose from.

Crowdestor Alternatives

Already invested in Crowdestor? Or looking for similar platforms? Here are three Crowdestor alternatives from the P2P market.

Debitum: A regulated P2P marketplace based in Latvia with a focus on business loans. Compared to Crowdestor, Debitum stands out through significantly higher transparency, audited financial reports and a notably stronger loan portfolio performance. More information in my Debitum review.

Income Marketplace: An unregulated P2P marketplace headquartered in Estonia, which markets itself through innovative security features that are designed to protect investors from underperforming loan originators. Attractive combination of high interest rates and high liquidity. More information in my Income Marketplace review.

Capitalia: A regulated P2P marketplace based in Latvia with a focus on business loans from the Baltic region. Similar to Crowdestor, Capitalia targets investors looking to finance SMEs. More transparent approach and a notably better loan portfolio performance. 

You can find other Crowdestor alternatives in the P2P Platform Comparison page.

FAQ Crowdestor Review

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Denny Neidhardt

denny@rethink-p2p.de | Webseite

I’m Denny Neidhardt, the founder of re:think P2P. On this blog, I help retail investors make smarter, well-informed investment decisions in the world of P2P lending. Since 2019, I’ve been publishing in-depth analyses, platform reviews, and risk assessments to bring more transparency to this investment space. My goal is to challenge marketing claims, question developments, and empower investors with honest, independent insights.

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