Mintos to tap equity crowdfunding, for itself

Riga-headquartered loan marketplace Mintos said on Tuesday it plans to launch later in November ng its first-ever equity crowdfunding campaign as it seeks funding to finance growth as a regulated platform.

Mintos will use Crowdcube for its crowdfunding campaign, which will be part of a larger fundraising round planned with venture capital firms.

“Demand for alternative investments has grown since the interest rates on deposits have been persistently low and equity markets have become crowded — leaving retail investors with very few good options,” Martins Sulte, CEO and Co-Founder at Mintos, said in a statement.

The global crowdlending market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.7% until 2027, from €57 billion in 2019 to €472 billion by 2027. “And from a broader view, global non-bank lending—in other words, the loan supply potentially available for investing—is already worth more than €3 trillion,” Mintos said.

Mintos said it was soon to become a fully regulated marketplace. “Acquiring both the Investment Firm and the Electronic Money Institution licenses will increase transparency and allow to significantly expand investor base, as well as introduce new products and functionality,” it said.

The 2015-founded Mintos says it has 340,000 investors from 63 countries investing in loans across the world, saying it has a 45% share of European alternative lending market.