With Hive5, there is a yet another new P2P platform on the market that promises investors a return of up to 14%. Whether an investment at the Croatian-based P2P platform is worthwhile and what risks investors should be aware of, will be discussed extensively at this Hive5 review.
All the information that are covered in this Hive5 review are based on my own personal research. 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.
Last Update: May 2023
Hive5 Overview
Before we get started, here is a quick summary with the most important information about Hive5.
| Founded / Started: | May 2022 / September 2022 |
| Legal Name: | Hive5 marketplace d.o.o. (LINK) |
| Headquarter: | Zagreb, Croatia |
| Regulated: | No |
| CEO: | Ričardas Vandzinskas (January 2022) |
| Financed Loan Volume: | €6,2 M |
| Number of Investors: | 830 |
| Promoted Return: | Up to 14% |
| Primary Loan Type: | Consumer Loans |
| Collateral: | Buyback Guarantee |
About Hive5
Hive5 is a Croatian-based P2P marketplace with Lithuanian roots, where investors can invest in both consumer and business loans, while earning a return of up to 14%.
The platform was founded in May 2022 by the Lithuanian parent company UAB Hive Finance. The platform is therefore still young and new to the market.
Who owns Hive5?
The Croatian-based Hive5 P2P platform belongs to the Lithuanian company Hive Finance. This holding company is owned by two shareholders.
Andrius Rupšys, successful founder of the GPS company Ruptela, owns 65% of the company shares. The other 35% is held by Ričardas Vandzinskas. Both shareholders also own the majority shares in Hive5 as well as the Polish lender Ekspres Pozyczka.
The Origin Story
The two shareholders of Hive5, Andrius Rupšys and Ričardas Vandzinskas, met in 2021 at the Lithuanian-based company Ruptela. This is a company founded by Andrius in 2007, which specialises in the development of GPS tracking devices and which employs more than 150 people.
Ričardas, who until then had worked a lot in finance at logistics and accounting companies, was hired as CFO of the Ruptela Group at the time. The idea for Hive5 came about after Ruptela’s customers increasingly complained that it was difficult to obtain a business loan from a bank. With Hive5, both wanted to establish an alternative financing platform for the growing demand for loans (also from Ruptela customers).
Hive5 Management
Ričardas Vandzinskas, one of the two co-founders, serves as CEO of the Hive5 P2P platform. He started his professional career as an auditor at PWC. In the course of his career, he worked in many other positions, primarily as a financial expert. Until the founding of Hive5, he had no connection to the traditional lending business.
According to PeerBerry, Ričardas was hired as CFO for the Aventus Group in May 2020. However, he has been let go after only two months, before the end of the probationary period. According to Ričardas, the separation occurred because he could not identify with the vision and business practices of the Aventus Group.
On the “About Us” page, investors can take a look at the other team members of Hive5. Some of them have a past with PeerBerry as well.
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 Hive5 review, you can follow-up on those questions.
How does Hive5 earn money?
The P2P platform earns its money primarily through commission fees, which are charged to the lenders represented on the marketplace. According to Ričardas, the commission is currently at 4%. In the future, this is to be reduced to 2% as soon as the size of the managed loan portfolio has increased.
Is Hive5 profitable?
According to CEO Ričardas, Hive5 is already profitable at the holding level (Hive Finance). A statement that should certainly be questioned. So far, the main revenue comes from their Polish lender, where they currently control a portfolio of about €2 M.
From the outside, it seems difficult to imagine how a team of about 20 employees, expenses for IT, marketing, etc. can be supported by this. There is currently no consolidated annual report to support this statement.
Investing on Hive5
How does Hive5 work and what should investors know and consider when investing on the plaform? In the following sections of my Hive5 review you will find all the necessary information that you need.
The Loan Offering
Hive5 works with two lenders on its marketplace: The Polish company “Ekspres Pozyczka” and the Lithuanian company “Ruptela”. The shareholders of both companies overlap with the shareholders of the platform, so there is a conflict of interest.
Through the two lenders, investors have the opportunity to invest in both short-term consumer loans and secured business loans. In the future, other secured loan products, such as “green” loans, machinery leasing and sustainable real estate loans, are to be added. Geographically, expansion is planned in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Costs and Fees
There are currently no costs or hidden fees for investors at Hive5. Neither for deposits and withdrawals, nor for other functionalities or investing itself.
Promoted Returns
On its website, Hive5 promotes a return of up to 14%. The interest rates for the loans range currently between 12% and 14%.
Hive5 Auto Invest
On Hive5, investors can invest in loans both manually and via an Auto Invest. This allows the returns to be automatically reinvested in the criteria that you preset yourself.
With HIve5 Auto Invest, individual lenders can be selected as well as the term of the loans, the interest rates, the investment amount or the maximum portfolio value.
The minimum investment amount per loan is currently €10, which is standard practice for most platforms.
Hive5 Forum
If you have questions about Hive5, 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.
Hive5 Taxes
Generally, interest income generated by loan financing is considered capital income and thus must be declared as such in the tax return. There is no withholding tax on Hive5 at this moment.
For the tax declaration, investors will find an overview (Accounting) in the dashboard, where a tax report can be downloaded for a self-selected period. This information can then be submitted to the respective tax office as part of a tax return.
Hive5 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 Hive5? Where are the underlying risks and how are they assessed?
Juozas Rupšys and Credon
During my research I noticed that in the Polish company directory of Argentum Capital, one of the two lenders on Hive5, there are entries of Juozas Rupšys. He is listed there as a former shareholder of the company (2009-2012).
Juozas is a Lithuanian businessman who has developed creditonline.eu, a white-label software solution for lenders as well as P2P platforms. According to Ričardas, Hive5 also uses the products and services of Juozas, who is apparently the godfather of Hive Finance majority shareholder Andrius Rupšys.
This connection is critical because Juozas has been busted in the past with a semi-professional P2P scam called “Credon” (Q3/2021 to Q2/2022). Luckily, “Credon P2P d.o.o.“, which also operated in Croatia and in which Juozas Rupšys held 50% of the shares, dissolved promptly before any major damage could be done.
Without reopening the Credon case from scratch, such cross-connections should be taken very seriously by investors, as they do not necessarily have a beneficial effect on the reputation and ethics of a new P2P platform.
Is Hive5 a Safe P2P Platform?
There are a number of reasons why investors should be very cautious before investing their money on Hive5. Firstly, because it is an extremely young and still unregulated P2P platform, and secondly, because the platform has not yet publicly shared consolidated annual reports of Argentum Capital, the holding company or the P2P platform.
In addition, investors should be aware of the shareholder overlap between the Hive5 P2P platform and all lenders represented on the marketplace.
Pros & Cons
In this section I have listed the biggest advantages and disadvantages of Hive5.
Advantages
- Ruptela: The lender “Ruptela” is a large and financially successful SME company from Lithuania.
Disadvantages
- Track Record: The operational start of the platform only took place in September 2022.
- Regulation: Hive5 is a P2P platform incorporated in Croatia and is therefore not subject to supervision or control by any financial authority.
- Financial Reports: Hive5 has not yet published any audited financial reports. Neither from the platform itself, nor from the lenders represented on the platform or the holding company.
- Conflicts of Interest: There are overlapping shareholders between the Hive5 P2P platform and all lenders represented on the marketplace.
- Cooperation Partners: Hive5 cooperates with service providers who have been involved in a previous P2P scam.
Hive5 Alternatives
The closest Hive5 alternative is PeerBerry. Both platforms have a strong overlap in terms of the legal jurisdiction of the platform (Croatia), the operational location (Lithuania), and the underlying business model (marketplace). In addition, there are similarly strong overlaps between the platform and lenders at shareholder level.
You can find other Hive5 alternatives on the P2P Platform Comparison page.
Summary Hive5 Review 2023
Hive5 is a new P2P platform from Croatia whose development investors should better watch from the sidelines for the time being. The reasons for it have been pointed out at varius stages of this Hive5 review: The little track record, the financial opacity of the entire holding structure, the conflicts of interest between lenders and platform as well as the cross-connections to cooperation partners with ethically questionable motives.
Further, there is currently no real USP for investing on Hive5 in its current set-up.
Those who absolutely want to invest in Polish consumer loans can also chose from more established lenders on other platforms such as Esketit, PeerBerry or Twino.
FAQ Hive5 Review
Hive5 is a Croatian-based P2P marketplace with Lithuanian roots, where investors can invest in both consumer and business loans, while earning a return of up to 14%.
The Croatian-based Hive5 P2P platform belongs to the Lithuanian company Hive Finance. This holding company is owned by two shareholders. Andrius Rupšys, successful founder of the GPS company Ruptela, owns 65% of the company shares. The other 35% is held by Ričardas Vandzinskas.
Hive5 is an extremely young and still unregulated P2P platform. The platform has not yet publicly shared consolidated annual reports of Argentum Capital, the holding company or the P2P platform. Also, investors should be aware of the shareholder overlap between the Hive5 P2P platform and all lenders represented on the marketplace.
Juozas Rupšys is a Lithuanian businessman who was busted in the past with a semi-professional P2P scam called “Credon” (Q3/2021 to Q2/2022). “Credon P2P d.o.o.”, where Juozas Rupšys held 50% of the shares, dissolved promptly before any major damage could be done.