Starting in 2023, Fintown has been a new and exciting alternative in the P2P environment. On the platform, investors can invest in profitable rental properties from the Czech Republic – in addition to traditional development projects – and thus achieve a stable cash flow with double-digit returns.
In my Fintown review, you can find out how the platform’s business model works in detail, what risks you should be prepared for and what I personally think of the Czech P2P newcomer.
All the information that are covered in this Fintown review are based on my own research. Please make sure to do your own due diligence before investing on any platform. More information can be found in the Disclaimer.
Further analyses of other platforms can be found on my P2P Platform Review page.
Summary
To begin, I’ve put together a brief summary of the most important Fintown information for you.
| Founded / Started: | Juli 2022 / Februar 2023 |
| Legal Name: | Fintown s.r.o. (LINK) |
| Headquarter: | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Regulated: | No |
| CEO: | Maxim Vihorev (July 2022) |
| Community Voting: | 2.89 out of 5 | See Voting |
| Assets Under Management: | EUR 8+ Million (October 2024) |
| Number of Investors: | 3.000+ (October 2024) |
| Expected Return: | Up to 15% |
| Primary Loan Type: | Real Estate and Property Loans |
| Collateral: | No |
| Bonus: | 2% Cashback for First Investment |
About Fintown
Fintown is a P2P lending platform based in the Czech Republic where investors can invest in rental properties in Prague, while achieving a promoted return of up to 15%.
Fintown is backed by the Vihorev Group. This is a property development company from the Czech Republic, which has built up a portfolio of rental apartments in the Czech capital since 2014. The property projects offered on Fintown are both developed and cross-financed by the Vihorev Group (31% skin in the game on average).
The founder and driving force behind Vihorev Group is Maxim Vihorev. Originally from Ukraine, the entrepreneur has lived in the Czech Republic for 20+ years and has been active on the Czech real estate market since 2008 – both in the field of property sales, property management and, since 2014, also on the market for residential construction projects.
Fintown’s mission is to make property investments more accessible, transparent and efficient.
Ownership and Management
Who are the main shareholders and management executives behind Fintown? Let’s have a look!
Fintown Ownership
Fintown was founded by the two business partners Maxim Vihorev and Vladislav Siganevic (extract company register). The shares of the company are divided as follows:
- 65% of the shares belong to Maxim Vihorev via his company “VIHOREV.INVESTMENTS SE”
- 35% of the shares belong to Vladislav Siganevic via his company “Stonehill Capital s.r.o.”
Since there has been no external financing round yet, Fintown is still owner-managed.
Business Model and Finances
Throughout the process of due diligence, investors should also have a look at the business model of a P2P platform as well as the overall financial situation. How does the company earn money? Does the platform operate profitably? And how well is the company positioned financially? In the following paragraphs of this Fintown review, you can follow-up on those questions.
Monetization
How does Fintown earn money? The projects on the P2P platform have so far come exclusively from the portfolio of the Vihorev Group. Fintown charges this group a commission fee after a project has been successfully financed. Fintown has not communicated exact details about the amount of the commission.
Profitability
Is Fintown profitable? No, at the moment the P2P platform is not yet profitable. Due to the young history of the platform, no annual reports have yet been published to assess its financial performance. Fintown has also not communicated how big the outstanding portfolio amount would need to be in order to reach the break-even point.
Sign Up and Bonus
To invest at Fintown, investors must fulfil two requirements: A minimum age of 18 years and a valid bank account with euro currency. If these requirements are met, registration on the Fintown website can be completed in just a few steps. The following information are required:
- A valid e-mail address
- Bank account details
- A valid mobile phone number
Also legal entities can register at Fintown and invest in rental properties.
Fintown Bonus
Investors who register at Fintown via this link will receive a 2% cashback for their first investment on the P2P platform. The cashback bonus is paid out 3 days after successful financing.
Investing on Fintown
In this section of my Fintown review, we will look at the specifics when investing on the platform and what investors need to keep in mind when doing so. Among other things, we will look at the different investment products, the costs involved and the expected returns from investing on Fintown.
Loan Offering
Fintown offers two different investment products from the real estate sector on its platform:
- Investments in development projects (in the form of a participation)
- Investments in rental properties (in the form of a mezzanine loan)
Let’s take a closer look at the characteristics of both investment options.
Development Projects
Most investors should already be familiar with development projects from other crowdfunding platforms such as Estateguru or Crowdpear. Here, the money is usually used to finance apartment complexes, office buildings or to renovate existing properties.
The majority of development projects are bullet loans with a relatively short term. The capital and interest are repaid at the end of the loan term.
It is interesting to note that the development loans on Fintown have a significantly higher interest rate, in some cases up to 15%.
The comparatively higher risk premium is due to the fact that the property loans on Fintown are not secured with a first-ranking mortgage, but in the form of a participation. This means that the investor participates in all earnings and losses resulting from the loan agreement between Fintown and the property developer in proportion to the amount of their investment.
The development loans can be financed from as little as EUR 1.
Rental Properties
On the other hand, Fintown offers investments in rental properties, where interest is credited monthly. Investments in rental properties can in turn be divided into three categories:
Rental: With this product, a minimum term must be met before the capital can be withdrawn (the maximum term can be up to 60 months). The interest is paid out monthly and can either be reinvested or withdrawn.
Flexi: As the name suggests, investors have maximum flexibility with the “Flexi” product. Investors can withdraw the interest and capital in full after just one month. Alternatively, the investment can also continue to run for up to 60 months. Due to significantly higher liquidity, the Flexi product offers only a maximum interest rate of 8%.
Early Rental: Here, investors initially invest in a development loan for a few months, which is then converted into a rental unit with monthly interest payments. This allows investors to secure a future rental yield with monthly interest payments. The minimum term can be between 9 and 36 months.
Important to note: The rental property is not financed in form of a participation (see Development Projects), but in the form of a mezzanine loan (unsecured form of subordinated debt). To ensure that P2P platform and investors are in the same boat, Fintown always retains at least 20% of the equity in the rental property.
Costs and Fees
Investors can register on Fintown free of charge. There are also no costs or hidden fees for investing on the P2P platform. The same applies to deposits and withdrawals on Fintown.
The only costs Fintown investors may incur are if they wish to withdraw their money before the end of the minimum term. The exit fee charged depends on the length of the remaining term.
- Withdrawal within 1-12 months: 30 % of the capital
- Withdrawal within 13-24 months: 20 % of the capital
- Withdrawal within 25-36 months: 10 % of the capital
To apply for an “Early Exit” before the end of the loan term, investors must send an e-mail to the Fintown information address.
Expected Returns
What returns can investors achieve on Fintown? The answer depends on several factors.
The interest rate for development loans is generally between 14% and 15%, while the interest rate for rental properties is between 8% and 12%. Depending on the total amount invested, there may be an additional bonus.
- Total amount invested between EUR 10,000 and EUR 29,999: 0.5% bonus
- Total amount invested bigger than EUR 30,000: 1% bonus
Important: The “VIP bonus” can only be reinvested or withdrawn after a holding period of 12 months.
So far there have been no delays or defaults on Fintown, which is why the advertised return appears to be achievable. Taking into account possible loan defaults, the expected return may be somewhat lower in the future.
Buyback Guarantee
There is no traditional security for the two investment products offered on Fintown. Neither in the form of a traditional mortgage nor via the buyback guarantee often used for consumer loans.
Instead, the Vihorev Group offers a notarised corporate guarantee to secure the investments in the event of default. The conditions of the corporate guarantee can be found in the guarantee declaration.
As Maxim Vihorev is the ultimate beneficial owner of both the P2P platform (Fintown) and the guarantor (Vihorev), the exercise of legal steps can be questioned (conflict of interest).
Auto Invest
At the time of this Fintown review, there has been no Auto Invest on the P2P platform. The loans must therefore be selected manually by the investors.
Fintown Forum
If you have questions about Fintown, other platforms or different p2p-related topics, you can join the re:think P2P Community on Facebook and engage in discussions with more than 1,000 other private retail investors.
Alternatively, you can get the latest Fintown news and updates via my channels on Telegram or WhatsApp.
Fintown Taxes
Generally, interest income generated by loan financing is considered investment income and must thus be reported as such on the tax declaration. Unlike other platforms, Fintown does not withhold any taxes at the moment.
Fintown does currently not issue any tax certificate. Instead, investors must obtain a statement of income from their own account.
Fintown Risks
Investors should look 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 Fintown? Where are the underlying risks and how are they assessed?
Risk Management
Fintown did not provide any detailed information about the due diligence process of new real-estate projects.
In terms of risk minimisation for investors, Fintown offers three layers of security:
- Conception Serviced Apartments: With loans on Fintown, investors invest in existing and rented residential units. The income generated is intended to cover all operating costs, bank loans and interest paid to Fintown investors.
- Skin in the Game: The borrower (Vihorev Investments SE) participates in the property loans with at least 20% equity.
- Corporate Guarantee: There is a guarantee from the borrower’s parent company that covers the obligations to the investors (see Buyback Guarantee).
Is Fintown a Safe P2P Platform?
Fintown is an unregulated P2P platform from the Czech Republic. This means that there is no supervision or control of the company’s business practices. Trust in the integrity of the shareholders and the financial situation of the Vihorev Group is therefore crucial.
The platform’s poor track record, the lack of deposit protection and Fintown’s lack of profitability should also be taken into account.
On a positive note, there have been no defaults or losses on Fintown to date.
Advantages and Disadvantages
In this section, I have listed the most important advantages and disadvantages of Fintown.
Advantages
- Liquidity: Investors can invest in short-term property assets on Fintown.
- Performance: So far there have been no defaults or losses for investors.
- Experience: The management has been active in the Czech real estate market for 10+ years.
- Diversification: Diversification opportunity away from traditional consumer loans.
- Costs: No fees are charged to investors on Fintown.
Disadvantages
- Track Record: Fintown has only been operationally active in the P2P environment since 2023.
- Regulation: The platform is not regulated by any financial supervisory authority.
- Auto Invest: Investors can only invest manually in loans on Fintown.
- Profitability: Fintown is not yet profitable, partly due to its short history.
Fintown Alternatives
Fintown offers exciting development projects and rental properties on its platform. What possible Fintown alternatives are there in the current P2P environment?
For development projects, the Lithuanian-based and regulated crowdfunding platform Crowdpear is a possible Fintown alternative. The platform offers mortgage-backed loans in and around Vilnius with interest rates of up to 12%. Crowdpear, a spin-off of the successful PeerBerry platform, is characterised in particular by the strong performance of its loan portfolio. Further information can be found in my Crowdpear review.
Another Fintown alternative, which specialises more in rental properties, is the crowdfunding platform InRento, which is also based in Lithuania. Depending on the project, a return of up to 12% can be achieved.
You can find other Fintown alternatives on the P2P Platform Comparison page.
Community Feedback
For the first time ever in 2024, Fintown took part in my annual Community Voting. The Czech P2P platform achieved a score of 2.89 points on its debut, while receiving 72 ratings. With 14th place, Fintown managed a solid midfield position.
The most popular P2P platforms in 2024 have been Robocash, Profitus, Viainvest, PeerBerry and Esketit. The ratings are based on my P2P Community Voting 2024.
Summary Fintown Review 2024
What is the preliminary conclusion of my Fintown review?
Fintown is an exciting P2P lending platform from the Czech Republic where investors can diversify their portfolio with rental properties. Especially for cash flow and income-orientated investors who prefer stable and regular payouts, Fintown could be a good fit with appealing conditions.
On a positive note, the Vihorev Group has a good track record in the Czech Republic and there have been no delays or defaults on the platform to date.
At the same time, further growth of the young platform should be monitored closely. Although the project details are very transparent and detailed, public statistics on the managed investment portfolio and customer assets would be desirable.
If growth continues at this pace, it seems likely that both the interest rate level will decrease in the future and that external third-party providers may also appear as borrowers. Considering these circumstances, the risk-reward profile would have to be reassessed.
Because Fintown offers an attractive overall package in the current market environment, I have been invested with a smaller amount since March 2024.
FAQ Fintown Review
Fintown is a P2P lending platform based in the Czech Republic where investors can invest in rental properties in Prague, while achieving a promoted return of up to 15%.
Fintown was founded by the two business partners Maxim Vihorev and Vladislav Siganevic. 65% of the shares belong to Maxim Vihorev via his company “VIHOREV.INVESTMENTS SE”, while 35% of the shares belong to Vladislav Siganevic via his company “Stonehill Capital s.r.o.”
Investors can register on Fintown free of charge. There are also no costs or hidden fees for investing on the P2P platform. The same applies to deposits and withdrawals on Fintown.
There is no traditional security for the two investment products offered on Fintown. Neither in the form of a traditional mortgage nor via the buyback guarantee often used for consumer loans. Instead, the Vihorev Group offers a notarised corporate guarantee to secure the investments in the event of default.
Investors who register at Fintown via this link will receive a 2% cashback for their first investment on the P2P platform. The cashback bonus is paid out 3 days after successful financing.