The Lithuanian capital crowdfunding platform Crowdpear is entering 2026 with confidence, backed by a solid track record of approximately 40 million euros in financed loans and over 2.1 million euros in interest paid to investors. Having built a community of nearly 10,000 international investors, the platform is now entering its fourth year of operation with even more ambitious plans to create additional value for both investors and real estate developers.
In an interview with The Baltic Times Magazine, Arunas Lekavicius, one of the shareholders responsible for the platform’s business development, shares insights on the platform’s operations, the growing popularity of investing through Crowdpear, and its development plans for 2026.
What was the beginning of Crowdpear, an ECSP license holder and EU-level regulated crowdfunding platform?
We began developing Crowdpear in 2021 with an ambitious plan to launch operations in spring 2022. However, due to geopolitical uncertainty following the start of the war in Ukraine, we postponed the launch. Crowdpear officially began lending operations on January 3, 2023, offering the first real-estate-backed loans on the platform.
In 2023, Crowdpear became one of the first crowdfunding platforms to receive the ECSP (European Crowdfunding Service Provider) license from the Bank of Lithuania, officially becoming an EU-level regulated crowdfunding provider. This license expanded the platform’s reach, enabling us to offer crowdfunding services across the EU within a harmonized regulatory framework.
What is the win-win for both borrowers and investors at Crowdpear?
For borrowers – primarily real estate developers – Crowdpear offers efficient and flexible financing. It serves as an attractive alternative to traditional bank loans, often providing more favorable terms or a faster process for securing required funds.
For investors, the platform offers property-backed loan investments within a regulated environment, with historically strong average returns of around 11 percent. Depending on the project and the amount invested in a specific loan, investors can earn returns of up to 14 percent. All investments are collateralized with real estate, providing an additional layer of security. If a borrower fails to repay the loan, the collateral can be sold, enabling the platform to settle with investors.
Crowdpear also facilitates liquidity through a secondary market, where investors can sell their investments to other investors if needed.
Crowdpear has already funded several hundred loans, totalling nearly 40 million euros. What has contributed most to this growth in such a competitive market?
Competition in the crowdfunding market is indeed high; however, the demand for financing among real estate developers is also strong and growing. As a result, we offer investors a broad selection of high-quality projects, spanning three markets: Lithuania, Romania, and Portugal.
The foundation of our sustainable growth is responsible risk management and the trust that investors place in our operations. Over the past three years, we have demonstrated that quality is our priority, which is why we offer only carefully evaluated and well-secured projects. More investors are joining the platform, and existing investors are increasing their investment amounts.
In 2025, we attracted more investment than in 2023 and 2024 combined, and accordingly, we paid out significantly more interest to investors. Crowdpear’s activities have grown across all the markets in which we operate, enabling us to offer a wider selection of investment opportunities and stronger portfolio diversification for our investors.
What sets Crowdpear apart from other market players?
Among regulated crowdfunding platforms offering real-estate-backed loan investments, Crowdpear stands out due to its core team – professionals with long-term experience in banking and FinTech. We have a deep understanding of the financial industry, market dynamics, risk management, investor expectations, and borrower needs.
Our offering is also unique in that we start calculating interest for investors from the first day of investment, whereas many other platforms begin calculating interest only once the full loan amount has been raised.
On Crowdpear, investors can choose from investment opportunities across three markets, with loan terms ranging from 3 to 24 months, and can contribute to real estate development by investing as little as 100 euros.
Where are the risks when investing in real estate loans? Have there been any losses on the platform?
In line with regulatory requirements, we remind investors that all investments carry risks. While investments are secured by real estate, risks are mitigated through primary mortgages and, in most cases, additional guarantees provided by the developer. As mentioned, if a developer is unable to meet its obligations, the pledged property can be sold, and the proceeds used to settle with investors. Therefore, a loan entering recovery does not automatically mean potential losses for investors.
Additionally, if a borrower is late in paying interest or repaying the loan, investors accrue an additional 5 percent annual interest for each day of delay (provided the developer’s company has not been declared bankrupt). In some cases, investors may earn even more from delayed projects.
It is also important to diversify investments across different project loans and countries to reduce risk further.
During our three years of operation, investors have not incurred losses on loans they have invested via the Crowdpear platform.
What is the typical Crowdpear investor profile?
Crowdpear’s investor community is international, with most investors being EU residents. Both individuals and legal entities, including financial institutions, invest through the platform.
Approximately half of the individual investor base consists of people aged 35 to 50. The investor community is comprised of 80 percent males and 20 percent females. Investing on Crowdpear is available from age 18.
Since Crowdpear’s regulatory jurisdiction is in Lithuania, the platform is naturally also popular among residents of the Baltic region.
What are the steps to start investing on Crowdpear?
Starting to invest on Crowdpear is simple:
– Sign up on Crowdpear’s website, verify your identity, and complete KYC.
– Deposit funds into your Crowdpear account.
– Review available investment opportunities.
– Choose the loan(s) that align with your investment strategy and invest.
– Use your investor dashboard or the mobile app to track repayments, interest, and portfolio performance.
– Reinvest paid interest and repaid loans to increase passive income.
What’s next for Crowdpear?
Our platform continues to attract a rising number of new investors from the Baltic region and abroad, while existing investors are expanding their portfolios. This demonstrates the sustainability of our operations and the high level of confidence investors place in us. As investor expectations grow, the demand for a wider variety of investment opportunities increases. Therefore, we continue to analyse additional markets to offer more projects with stable, conservative risk profiles.
