The business model of LANDE intends to close the underfinanced gap among small and medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural sector. According to a study by the European Investment Bank this gap has been between EUR 19.8 billion and EUR 46.6 billion in the European Union during 2020. Although LANDE is a comparatively new platform, it offers attractive conditions for investors who want to diversify their portfolio outside from traditional consumer loans. The platform also received the European crowdfunding service provider licence at the beginning of 2024, allowing the company to operate throughout Europe. All key facts and figures about LANDE at a glance. For those who prefer watching over reading, take a look at my LANDE video review (August 2024): The origin of LANDE goes back to 2008. That year, Edgars Tālums (left) established the non-bank lender Latvijas Hipotēka. This company specialized primarily in financing mortgage loans. The loan financing came primarily from a small circle of wealthy private investors. Some of them are still cross-financing LANDE’s loan projects today (anchor investors). In order to help their investors to monitor their loan portfolios, the company created the first prototype of what is now known as the LANDE P2P platform in 2017. In July 2020, a decision was made to allow also smaller retail investors to finance the loan book, which enabled LANDE to further diversify their funding sources. The P2P platform was born. LANDE is a P2P lending platform which is focussing on the agricultural sector. With its business model, the platform is an intermediary between investors, who are pursuing a return by providing their capital, and farmers on the other side who want to take out loans for their business via the platform. In line with the ‘classic’ P2P model, LANDE acquires and scores the borrowers themselves before the loans are offered for financing on the platform. How does LANDE make money? To find out, investors can download the annual reports of the LANDE platform from their website. According to the latest annual report for the year 2024, LANDE was able to generate a revenue of EUR 1.9 million. More detailed information about the individual revenue sources was not provided in the report. According to statements from LANDE, the platform generates its revenue on two different levels: Who are the main shareholders and management executives behind LANDE? Let’s have a look! A look at the Latvian company register reveals that the platform is currently owned by four different shareholders. 88.6% of the shares are held by LANDE CEO and co-founder Nikita Goncars, who is therefore also the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of the platform. The remaining shares are held by VAUBAN NOMINEES LIMITED with 4.6%, the LANDE investors with 4.5% and the BADideas Fund with 2.2%. He graduated from BA School of Business and Finance, one of the leading business schools in Latvia. He was then co-founding several companies in the financial, real estate and agricultural sectors. This was followed in June 2019 by the launch of LANDE, formerly LendSecured. On this page, investors can look at the other platform’s team members. During June 2024, I visited up to 20 P2P platforms in the Baltic States, including LANDE. In my interview with LANDE CEO Nikita, you can learn more about how LANDE has recently transformed themselves after having a couple of operational issues in the first half of 2024. To invest on LANDE, investors must meet three requirements: The registration process at LANDE is fairly simple and intuitive. After opening the account via email, the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti-Money-Laundering) questionnaires have to be completed. This is followed by the verification of identity. Also legal entities have the opportunity to sign up on LANDE. If you consider investing on LANDE, a sign up through this link will enable you to get a cashback bonus of 3% in the first 30 days after registration. Until May 31, 2026, there is also an additional cashback bonus for larger amounts invested in individual projects on the primary market. A platform overview with all bonus offers and cashback promotions can be found on the bonus page. The P2P lending industry is a fast-moving environment. Hence, make sure to stay on top of all relevant information by subscribing to my channels on Telegram or WhatsApp. This way, you will always receive the latest information from the P2P industry, including platform news regarding LANDE. How does LANDE work and what should investors know and consider when investing on the plaform? In the following sections of my LANDE review you will find all the necessary information that you need. The loans that are offered on LANDE can be segmented into five different areas: In addition, two less common loan products are subsidized mortgage loans as well as factoring loans. Most of the agricultural loans offered on LANDE come from the Latvian market. At the same time, LANDE also offers loans from Lithuania and Romania. Here are some average numbers from the LANDE loan portfolio: The loan-to-value (LTV) is 44%, the interest rate is 10.6%, the loan term is 18 months and the loan amount is EUR 23,000. There are no fees or hidden costs for retail investors on LANDE. Neither for deposits or withdrawals, nor for the functionalities when investing on the platform. If you invest in agricultural loans on LANDE, you can achieve a return of up to 14% (taking cashback campaigns into account). The interest rates of the loans can fluctuate depending on the market phase. Usually, they are between 10% and 12%. Possible loan defaults should be taken into account in the overall assessment, which can have a negative impact on the expected return. My personal investment experience with LANDE goes back to December 2021. Since then, I have achieved a total return of 9.46% (July 2024). LANDE has launched an Auto Invest feature in December 2021. The Auto Invest is divided into “Basic” and “Advanced”. With the advanced LANDE Auto Invest, investors have several options to choose from. For example, the interest rate, the loan term, the loan-to-value (LTV) or the type of collateral can be defined more precisely. In 2024, LANDE added two more elements with the repayment type and the borrower countries. In addition, the minimum investment amount for the advanced Auto Invest strategy has been reduced from EUR 250 to EUR 100 per loan. LANDE integrated a secondary market in October 2020, where investors can sell their investments or buy already funded loans. Contrary to the minimum investment amount on the primary market (EUR 50), investors can purchase loans starting from EUR 2. No fees apply. Investors that want to diversify their portfolio on a broader scale and that aim to allocate their funds a lot faster, the secondary market on LANDE can be a good place to start. Note: The LANDE secondary market was relaunched in June 2024. Investors can find out about the new rules in this article. LANDE does not offer any kind of buyback guarantee. This is common practice for platforms that offer loans backed by collateral. The loans on LANDE are secured by mortgage with an average LTV of 43%, which is extremly low-risk. For comparison: Real estate platform EstateGuru offers an LTV average of 65%. Whether the collateral may be overvalued can only be assessed when loans default and the collection processes have increased on the platform. For the tax declaration, investors can find the “Balance” tab in the main menu, where a tax report for the respective year can be downloaded as a PDF (“Income Statement”). This information can then be used to be submitted to the tax office. 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 LANDE? Where are the underlying risks and how are they assessed? The get an idea about potential risk elements involved at LANDE, the platform published a list of aspects that investors need to be aware of. This includes market risk, liquidity risk, platform risk and many more. The operational launch of the platform took place in July 2020, while the first loans were financed in September 2020. The platform is registered as “SIA LANDE Platform” in Latvia. It is controlled and monitored by the Latvian Financial Supervision Authority (Latvijas Banka). Since February 2024, the platform has obtained a licence as a European crowdfunding service provider, which allows the company to offer its services throughout Europe. Accordingly, LANDE must fulfil a certain level of compliance and transparency standards that increase the security of the platform. This includes the publication of audited annual reports. LANDE is still a very young P2P platform. Investors should therefore be cautious and follow developments closely. The strong growth in the first few years has at times led to a certain degree of overloading of the platform. The financial stability of a P2P platform is a key risk factor. Is LANDE able to operate profitably? And what conclusions can be drawn from the balance sheet? Annual Report Auditor: Orients Audit & Finance Regulated audit firm. Standard: Latvian GAAP Local standard, not internationally comparable. Is LANDE profitable? To answer this, we also take a look at last year’s annual report for 2024. In it, the platform reported a profit of EUR 196,742. This means that the Latvian P2P platform was able to reach profitability on an annual basis for the first time. The equity ratio stands at a strong 75%, the liquidity ratio is very healthy at 3.75, and the debt ratio, at 0.32, leaves little room for further improvement. Overall, LANDE appears to be pursuing a very conservative and sustainability-focused growth strategy. LANDE offers highly collateralized agricultural and development loans on its platform. The collateralization breaks down as follows: Investors should be aware that loan defaults are part of the business and cannot be avoided in the long term. The average loan-to-value ratio on LANDE is 44%. If farmers are no longer able to repay their loans, the loans appear to be well secured. The first defaulted loans were successfully and 100% recovered. This means that investors have not yet suffered any losses on their investments. The registered collateral has always had a sufficient risk buffer. Russia and Ukraine represent about 30% of world exports for wheat and barley. This has been beneficial to LANDE investors as approximately 50% of the outstanding loan portfolio has been secured with grain product purchase contracts. As the value of this collateral has increased significantly, the default risks for investors have also fallen at the same time. Overall, the war in Ukraine had no negative impact on LANDE’s operational activities. In this section I have listed the most important advantages and disadvantages of LANDE. LANDE is a regulated crowdfunding platform based in Latvia that operates in an exciting and rapidly growing niche with its positioning in the agricultural sector. This not only offers great growth potential for the platform, but also creates real value for investors in terms of diversification. Due to the strong growth of the platform, there was a temporary overload of operational processes, which affected IT, the secondary market and the collection process, among other things. However, LANDE has been much more stable again since summer 2024. The performance of the loan portfolio is also within a good range. Anyone who is looking for an additional alternative to their P2P portfolio, apart from traditional consumer loans, LANDE is an emerging platform worth considering. Already invested in LANDE? Or looking for similar platforms? Here are three LANDE alternatives from the P2P market. InSoil Finance: The largest P2P platform in the Baltics with a focus on agricultural loans. Similar to LANDE, InSoil Finance targets investors that are looking to finance farmers and agricultural businesses, with loans that are notably secured through farmland and heavy machinery. Compared to LANDE, InSoil Finance offers a broader geographical diversification across multiple European markets. More information in my InSoil Finance review. Crowdpear: A regulated crowdfunding marketplace based in Lithuania. Focus on mortgage-secured real estate loans from the Baltic region. Crowdpear was built by the same team behind the P2P marketplace PeerBerry and stands out through a notably strong loan portfolio performance and a high level of transparency. More information in my Crowdpear review. Debitum: A regulated P2P marketplace based in Latvia. Focus on business loans. Like LANDE, Debitum targets investors that are looking to invest in secured loans outside of classical consumer lending. With the Latvian Forest Development Fund and Baltic Terra, Debitum also offers a notably strong focus on the forestry and timber industry. More information in my Debitum review. You can find other LANDE alternatives on the P2P Platform Comparison page. LANDE (formerly LendSecured) is a Latvian P2P platform regulated under the EU Crowdfunding Regulation (ECSP) since February 2024, where investors can invest in secured agricultural loans. Returns reach up to 12%. The platform launched operationally in July 2020. Interest rates typically range between 10% and 12% depending on market conditions. My personal total return since December 2021 stands at 9.46%. Potential loan defaults should be factored into return expectations, even though no capital losses have occurred to date. LANDE does not offer a buyback guarantee. Instead, agricultural land, machinery, and crop yields serve as collateral. The average loan-to-value ratio is just 44%, which is significantly lower than the industry average on real estate platforms. Yes. The secondary market was originally introduced in October 2020 and relaunched in June 2024 after a longer break. Investors can buy or sell already financed loans from as little as €2, with no fees charged. Yes. New investors registering via my partner link receive 3% cashback on all investments made within the first 30 days. On a €10,000 investment, that equals €300 cashback. 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.
What is LANDE?
LANDE (formerly LendSecured) is a Latvian P2P platform where investors can finance a variety of highly collateralized agricultural and development loans, while earning a return of up to 12%. The operational launch of the platform took place in July 2020. The first loans have been issued in September 2020.LANDE at a Glance
Founded / Started:
December 2009 / January 2021
Legal Name:
SIA LANDE Platform (LINK)
Headquarter:
Riga, Latvia
Regulated:
Yes (ECSP License)
CEO:
Nikita Goncars (June 2019)
Assets Under Management:
EUR 31+ Million
Number of Investors:
10.000+
Expected Return:
Up to 12%
Primary Loan Type:
Agricultural Loans
Collateral:
Mortgage
The Origin Story
In 2011, Nikita Goncars joined the company as a second shareholder and business partner. Over the years, collateralization by agricultural land and smaller residential properties developed into a core competence of the company.Business Model
Monetization
Ownership and Management
LANDE Ownership
Who owns LANDE? The platform is operated by the Latvian company “SIA LANDE Platform”, which was founded on 14 March 2022.LANDE Management
Nikita Goncars is the CEO, co-founder and strong man behind Latvian platform LANDE.
Sign Up and Bonus
LANDE Bonus
LANDE Forum
Investing on LANDE
Loan Offering
Costs and Fees
Expected Returns
LANDE Auto Invest
With the basic Auto Invest, no criteria can be selected. This way, investors automatically invest in every loan that becomes available. The minimum investment amount is EUR 50.Secondary Market
Buyback Guarantee
LANDE Taxes
Generally, interest income generated by loan financing is considered investment income and must be reported as such on the tax declaration. Unlike other platforms, LANDE does not withhold any taxes at the moment.
LANDE Risks
Platform Risk
Financial Stability
Profitability
Balance Sheet
LANDE has very strong KPIs in its balance sheet. However, this is largely due to the relatively small balance sheet total.
Loan Default Risk
War in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has had a positive impact on LANDE. This is due to severe restrictions on the global trade of grain products, which has caused prices to skyrocket. At one point, a ton of wheat was traded for more than EUR 400, which meant an increase of 60%.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Summary LANDE Review
What is the final verdict of my LANDE review and my personal opinion of the platform?
LANDE Alternatives
FAQ LANDE Review
LANDE Review 2026: 10% Return After 4 Years! (Good Investment)
Affiliate Links / Conflict of InterestDisclaimer
This article contains affiliate links. If you register and/or invest through one of these links, the operator receives a commission. The compensation has no influence on the opinion or the evaluation of the platform. Potential conflicts of interest can be looked up on the “P2P Portfolio” page.
Investments in P2P loans involve risks and may result in the complete loss of the invested capital. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future developments. The following content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Despite careful research, no guarantee is given for the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information provided. No liability is accepted for any financial losses or investment decisions made based on the information presented here. For more details, see the full disclaimer.
✅ What is LANDE?
✅ What returns can I expect from LANDE?
✅ How are loans secured on LANDE?
✅ Is there a secondary market on LANDE?
✅ Is there a bonus for signing up with LANDE?
I have decided to give Lande a try but it is terrible. Deposited money 20 days ago, settup the auto-invest, but is not working. I have double checked it, set-up a second one, still nothing. No loans are ever available to invest in. So we’re talking about 20 days of full cash drag… never seen anything like this. They should pause new users, I just feel they are using my money for free.
Thanks for sharing your feedback regarding Lande. I can’t comment on your AI settings, which may compromise loan selection further. In general, there is a shortage of new loans recently. Everyone is affected. Hence, I can understand your frustration of not getting your funds invested. Have some patience or consider buying from the secondary market to start off, which also helps to pick up loans for less than EUR 50.
Thank you for your question Nuno,
Agricultural land is an extremely liquid asset in the Baltics and EU. Due to the high deficit, most land plots are sold above the valuation price on the auctions.
https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/economy/farmland-prices-tripled-over-decade-in-latvia.a461551/
Also, compared with residential real estate or construction, there are no risks of unfinished construction, company bankruptcy, etc. Land is a finished asset with a clear and stable valuation.
Dont you think Lande is an EXTREMELY dangerous platform ?
All its loans are secured by land and other hard to sell and legally complicated assets?
I mean is Estateguru is taking years or maybe decades to recover failed investments and this is with houses I can only imagine Lande trying to sell some farmer’s field to recover investor’s money
Am I the only one thinking Lande is a tricking nuclear time bomb ?
How Lande is recovering defaulted assets will be interesting to watch, for sure. But so far, I don’t consider Lande being riskier than other comparable alternatives.