In recent years, agricultural loans have experienced an ever-growing popularity among P2P investors. One platform that has been focusing on this niche since 2020 is the Lithuanian company HeavyFinance.
By lending on HeavyFinance, investors can not only achieve a return of up to 14%, the financing is also helps to promote sustainable agriculture and thus accelerates climate protection, as modern farming methods have great leverage to store CO2 emissions in the soil.
By facilitating investments through HeavyFinance, the platform wants to avoid 1 gigaton of CO2 emissions by 2050.
This HeavyFinance review will reveal if the platform is worth your time and money. All the information that are covered in this HeavyFinance analysis are based on my own research about the platform. Please make sure to do your own due diligence before investing on this or any other platform. More information can be found in the Disclaimer.
Further analyses of other platforms can be found on my P2P Platform Review page.
HeavyFinance Overview
Before we get started, here is a quick summary with the most important information about HeavyFinance.
| Founded / Started: | June 2020 / June 2020 |
| Legal Name: | UAB Heavy Finance (LINK) |
| Headquarter: | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Regulated: | Yes (Central Bank of Lithuania and ECSP License) |
| CEO: | Laimonas Noreika (June 2020) |
| Assets Under Management: | EUR 29+ Million (April 2024) |
| Number of Investors: | 11.000+ (April 2024) |
| Expected Return: | 13,13% |
| Primary Loan Type: | Agricultural Loans |
| Collateral: | Agricultural Land, Heavy Machinery and Equipment |
| Bonus: | 2% Cashback for 30 Days |
About HeavyFinance
HeavyFinance is a Lithuanian crowdfunding platform that started operations in June 2020. On the platform, investors can invest in a variety of highly collateralised agricultural and development loans, while earning a return of up to 14%.
The platform has been regulated and supervised by the Central Bank of Lithuania since its inception. In combination with the legally forced separation of investor and company funds, the safety on HeavyFinance is higher than from comparable alternatives abroad.
Environmental awareness is very strong at HeavyFinance. Since one third of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from agricultural products, the company wants to use its fintech platform to primarily finance solutions that promote sustainable agriculture and accelerate climate protection. This could be by farmers buying better equipment or by switching to no-till farming methods.
The platform’s goal is to avoid 1 gigaton of CO2 emissions by 2050.
The Origin Story
The origin of the platform goes back to a discussion between Laimonas Noreika and Rytis Darginavičius. The latter, who later also became a business angel of the company, complained that he wanted to sell equipment to farmers, but they had problems getting money for financing.
Laimonas, who had been CEO of the Lithuanian P2P platform FinBee at the time, recognised the potential of this niche. On one hand, there were strong collaterals in the agricultural sector (agricultural land, heavy machinery, etc.), on the other hand, the loan amounts were too small for the traditional banking business.
Laimonas then formed a team with two other co-founders: Andrius Liukaitis, who had been CFO at NEO Finance until then, and Darius Verseckas, who covers the area marketing and communication.
In June 2020, they then founded the company UAB Heavy Finance. The P2P platform was born.
Ownership
Who owns HeavyFinance? The ultimate beneficiary owner (UBO) of HeavyFinance is CEO and co-founder Laimonas Noreika. Other shareholders include the two other co-founders Darius Verseckas and Andrius Liukaitis.
Among the company’s shareholders are venture capitalists Practica Capital, bValue and BlackPearls. Angel investors include Rytis Darginavičius, Valdemaras Raščiauskas, Adrian Watson, Marius Krikštopaitis and Audrius Griškevičius.
HeavyFinance has not provided any official documents from the company register, which give details about the exact shareholder distribution.
HeavyFinance Management
CEO of the HeavyFinance platform is the Lithuanian Laimonas Noreika, who should be a familiar face to experienced P2P investors. Prior to HeavyFinance, he was CEO of the Lithuanian P2P platform FinBee for more than four years. As a result, he can provide extensive knowledge in the fintech industry and strategic planning for a P2P platform.
The other management positions are covered by the two other co-founders. Andrius Liukaitis, who was previously employed at NEO Finance for five years, is primarily responsible for the finances as CFO at HeavyFinance. Darius Verseckas, the third co-founder, is responsible for marketing and external communication as CMO.
Investors can find more information about the platform’s team members on the HeavyFinance website.
Business Model & 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 HeavyFinance review, you can follow-up on those questions.
Monetization
HeavyFinance monetises itself primarily through a brokerage fee, which is charged to borrowers upon successful project financing. This can be between 1% and 8% of the financed loan amount.
Other sources of income include administrative fees, penalty fees or early termination fees (5% of the outstanding loan amount). For investors, using and investing on HeavyFinance is mostly free of charge.
A detailed overview of the fees charged can be found in this price list.
Profitability
In the 2022 financial year, UAB Heavy Finance made a loss of EUR 1.1 million. The company is therefore not yet profitable. However, as a venture capital financed company, HeavyFinance does not aim for short-term profitability either.
The team, which has now grown to almost 50 employees, has finished a seed financing of EUR 3 million in early 2023, which should pay off over a longer period of time. According to the platform’s communication, profitability is expected in two years at the earliest.
Here you can download the UAB Heavy Finance Financial Report 2022.
Sign Up and Bonus
In order to invest on HeavyFinance, investors must meet two requirements: A minimum age of 18 years and a residence in the European Union.
Overall, the registration process is relatively simple and intuitive. After opening the account via email, the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti-Money-Laundering) questionnaires must be completed. This is followed by the verification of the identity and the declaration of the tax domicile.
When registering with Heavy Finance, a virtual bank account is automatically opened with Lemonway, which is used as an investment account for the transactions. This provides better protection for the funds against misuse.
Also legal entities have the option to register on HeavyFinance.
Bonus for New Investors
If you register on HeavyFinance via this link, you will receive a 2% cashback on all investments made in the first 30 days after registration.
Investing on HeavyFinance
How does HeavyFinance work and what should investors know and consider when investing on the plaform? In the following sections of my HeavyFinance review you will find all the necessary information that you need.
Loan Offering
HeavyFinance offers a variety of investments on its platform that are related to an agricultural activity. This can be, for example, the purchase of equipment, the acquisition of land or the collection of working capital to continue the business.
All loans offered on HeavyFinance are secured by corresponding assets, for example in the form of heavy machinery or land. The maximum loan-to-value ratio is 70%.
In addition, some Lithuanian loans are also secured by the Lithuanian Agricultural Loan Guarantee Fund, which would repay up to 80% of the outstanding loan amount in case of default. Loans of up to EUR 10,000, which are only secured by an individual guarantee, have a 2% higher interest rate compared to loans with first-ranking security.
The borrower countries include Poland, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria. This allows investors to diversify their portfolio not only on a geographical level, but also on an agricultural industry level (grain farmers in Lithuania, vineyards in Portugal, etc.).
The average loan amount is about EUR 36,000. The average loan term, on the other hand, is 32 months. To invest in a loan on HeavyFinance, there is a minimum investment amount of EUR 100 per loan required.
Green Loans
In early 2023, HeavyFinance launched Green Loans, a new product that gives investors access to the carbon credit market. The aim is to promote sustainable practices and regenerative farming methods in order to have a positive impact on the environment.
The carbon credits are tradable units that represent the removal of one ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (1 ton of CO2 removed = 1 carbon credit).
When a farmer takes a green loan (0% financing), he commits to investing the money in renewable energy, reforestation or regenerative land management practices such as no-till, thereby storing carbon in the soil and generating carbon credits. These projects are verified by globally recognised certification institutions to ensure that the carbon credits generated are real, measurable and permanent.
By investing in “green loans”, investors can benefit from the positive effects of reducing emissions while earning a return on the sale of the certificates. The return is largely dependent on the price of the carbon credits and can therefore vary greatly. According to HeavyFinance, the return is 12%+ in a conservative scenario and 50%+ in an optimistic scenario.
Costs and Fees
On HeavyFinance, investors can register and create an account free of charge.
There are also no costs or hidden fees for investing in P2P loans on HeavyFinance, as well as for deposits and withdrawals.
The only cost factors arise in the event of an early sale via the secondary market. For this, a transaction fee of 1% of the nominal value of the transferred debt right is charged.
In addition, investors pay a type of collection fee amounting to 0.1% of the outstanding amount per day, which is intended to cover the costs of recovery.
In addition, investors pay a collection fee of 0.1% of the outstanding amount per day, which is intended to cover the costs of recovery. Investors should be aware that charging this fee is a legal requirement. In reality though, investors are also credited 0.2% per day in interest on delays.
Expected Returns on HeavyFinance
The average weighted interest rate on HeavyFinance is 13.13%. The average expected return should therefore be in the low double-digit range. Compared to other crowdfunding platforms that can offer similarl collateralisation, this can be considered a competitive return.
“Depending on the risk level of the projects that you opt to choose to invest in, you can benefit from 8% to 14% of yearly return.”
Overall, HeavyFinance offers a very attractive rate of return for the underlying risk.
HeavyFinance Auto Invest
On HeavyFinance, investors have three options to invest in agricultural loans: Manual selection on the primary market, manual selection on the secondary market or the automated investment strategy (Auto Invest).
With the help of HeavyFinance Auto Invest, the following criteria can be configured:
- Investment Amount: The minimum investment amount per loan (EUR 100)
- Interest Size: The spread of the loan interest rate
- Loan Duration: The term of the loan
- Risk Rating: The risk rating of the platform (from A to D)
- LTV: The loan-to-value of the loan
- Country: The borrower country
- Extra Measure: Selection of additional collateral
HeavyFinance Forum
If you have questions about HeavyFinance, 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 also find the latest news and updates on my Telegram channel.
HeavyFinance Taxes
Generally, interest income generated through loan financing is considered capital income and thus must be declared as such in the tax return.
As a Lithuania-based P2P platform, HeavyFinance is legally obliged to withhold tax – at a rate of 15% – on interest income earned. This is automatically withheld by the platform. Investors can reduce the withholding tax to 10% by filling out a “DAS-1 form” and sending it to the platform.
As there is a double taxation agreement between Lithuania and most European countries, the withholding tax can be offset. This means that it is not paid twice.
Investors cannot yet download a classic report for their tax return. Instead, they have to filter their transactions and then download a file.
HeavyFinance Risks
When evaluating a P2P platform, investors should look very carefully at the possible risk factors and weigh them up before making an investment. What do you have to look out for at HeavyFinance? Where are the risks and how should they be assessed?
Risk Assessment
HeavyFinance follows a systematic evaluation process to attract new borrowers. This can be roughly summarised in four steps:
1. Initial Contact: The assessment begins with an initial interview with the farmer. During this meeting, the first important information is collected in order to get an impression of the farm.
2. Financial Documentation: Subsequently, the necessary financial documents are requested from the borrower. This includes the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, the crop declaration and a collateral valuation document. These documents help HeavyFinance assess the financial stability of the farm and evaluate the associated risk. The information provided helps to determine the borrower’s financial rating.
3. Credit Check: Next, HeavyFinance conducts a comprehensive check against public sources and credit reports. This step is designed to help identify possible negative information that may affect the borrower’s creditworthiness.
4. Project Preparation: If no significant issues are identified during the screening process, HeavyFinance prepares the project for integrating it on the platform. This includes compiling all relevant information about the borrower and the proposed project.
According to HeavyFinance, only about 10% of all loan applications end up as projects on the platform.
Defaults at HeavyFinance
A stringent and systematic approach is essential in risk assessment. But how well does HeavyFinance perform in practice? Do the figures allow a positive conclusion to be drawn about the risk assessment?
Among the most common causes of repayment problems are cash flow difficulties. For example because expected subsidies are not paid on time or because farmers are still hesitant to sell their crops because they are speculating on a better selling price.
Investors should note that repayments in the agricultural sector can be very volatile as farmers often only receive income payments two or three times a year due to seasonality. Historically, repayment delays often increase between March and August, when farmers are working in the field, while repayments often occur in autumn during harvest time.
Investors can review the current performance on the statistics page.
100% Recoveries on HeavyFinance
The loans defaulted in 2021, the first financial year of HeavyFinance, have been fully recovered to date – including accrued interest.
A total of 82 loans (as of June 2023) have already moved into collection status since the launch of HeavyFinance. Of these loans, 25 have already been successfully and fully recovered. The average return on recoveries has been between 8% and 19%. The recovery period is usually 12 months, but in more complicated cases it can be up to two and a half years.
Investors on HeavyFinance have not suffered any capital losses to date.
One reason for this is the strong collateralisation of the loans. On the P2P platform, 50% are secured by heavy machinery and equipment, 40% by agricultural land and 10% by other assets.
Is HeavyFinance a Safe P2P Platform?
In principle, HeavyFinance can be seen as a safe P2P platform.
- Regulation and supervision by the Central Bank of Lithuania
- ESCP licence has been obtained in July 2023
- Separation of investor and corporate funds via Lemonway
- Large and experienced team
- No capital losses for investors yet
Pros & Cons
In this section I have listed the most important advantages and disadvantages of HeavyFinance.
Advantages
- Regulation: HeavyFinance is controlled and supervised by the Central Bank of Lithuania. The platform also obtained the ECSP license in July 2023.
- Custody of Investor Funds: Legally supervised segregation of investor and corporate funds.
- Experienced Team: HeavyFinance’s management has extensive experience in the lending business.
- Strong Shareholders: The platform is financed and supported by large and well-known VC companies.
- Risk-Reward Profile: The returns are very competitive considering the risk profile and underlying collateral.
- Diversification: On HeavyFinance, investors can strongly diversify their loan portfolio on both a geographical and an industrial level.
- Niche: With agricultural loans, HeavyFinance has positioned itself in a very attractive and strongly growing niche.
Disadvantages
- Track Record: HeavyFinance only operates since summer 2020.
- Profitability: The company is strongly focused on growth and will therefore not achieve profitability for the time being.
- Withholding Taxes: Taxes of 15% or 10% are withheld from private investors.
HeavyFinance Alternatives
The most similar HeavyFinance alternative is the Latvian crowdfunding platform LANDE. Also here, farmers are primarily supported as borrowers, who can thus continue their business.
You can find other HeavyFinance alternatives on the P2P Platform Comparison page.
Summary HeavyFinance Review 2024
What is the final verdict of my HeavyFinance review and what is my personal opinion?
HeavyFinance is currently the largest P2P platform in the Baltics with a focus on agricultural loans.
Due to the wide range of loan products, borrower countries and collateral options, there are many levels on which investors can diversify their investment in the ever-growing agricultural sector. In addition to the aspect of agricultural sustainability, investors can also expect a realistic return in the low double-digit range. Thus, HeavyFinance is one of the few exceptions where environmental sustainability and returns go hand in hand.
The performance of the loan portfolio is still in a manageable range, considering the economic circumstances in recent years. The strong securities have historically meant that investors have not yet suffered any capital losses.
If you want to invest your money in the agricultural sector with a young and dynamic P2P platform, you should definitely look into HeavyFinance.
FAQ HeavyFinance Review
HeavyFinance is a Lithuanian crowdfunding platform that started operations in June 2020. On the platform, investors can invest in a variety of highly collateralised agricultural and development loans, while earning a return of up to 14%.
The ultimate beneficiary owner (UBO) of HeavyFinance is CEO and co-founder Laimonas Noreika. Other shareholders include the two other co-founders Darius Verseckas and Andrius Liukaitis.
HeavyFinance monetises itself primarily through a brokerage fee, which is charged to borrowers upon successful project financing. This can be between 1% and 8% of the financed loan amount.
In early 2023, HeavyFinance launched Green Loans, a new product that gives investors access to the carbon credit market. The aim is to promote sustainable practices and regenerative farming methods in order to have a positive impact on the environment.
If you register on HeavyFinance via this link, you will receive a 2% cashback on all investments made in the first 30 days after registration.
Hi, ich bin Denny! Seit Januar 2019 schreibe ich auf diesem Blog über meine Erfahrungen beim Investieren in P2P Kredite. Meine Analysen sollen Privatanlegern dabei helfen reflektierte und gut informierte Anlageentscheidungen treffen zu können. Dafür schaue ich mir die Risikoprofile der einzelnen P2P Plattformen an, hinterfrage deren Entwicklungen, teile meine persönlichen Einschätzungen und beobachte übergeordnete Trends aus der Welt des Crowdlendings.
Mein Bestseller "Geldanlage P2P Kredite" gilt in Fachkreisen als das beste deutschsprachige Finanzbuch zum gleichnamigen Thema. Zudem versammeln sich in der P2P Kredite Community auf Facebook tausende von Privatanlegern, die sich regelmäßig über die Anlageklasse P2P Kredite austauschen.