Exporo – next investment

Let’s explore our next investment – the real estate crowd platform Exporo. Described below our positive impression of this FinTech, no less because of how much we learned about them.

Meeting the FinTech in an event

DS joined a fair called Düsseldorf Anlegertag in March, where Exporo hosted a stand. That event is a chance for investors to know more about old and new financial service players.

The platform was already in our radar at that point, we had even attempted to set up an online account. At a first glance, however, the form seemed to be made for individuals rather than companies like ourselves. So, passing by Exporo’s stand just to make the point that companies are also interested in investing, a very welcome surprise followed.

Not only did the company’s representative clarify that companies are also able to join with a slightly adjusted use of the form, but they went above and beyond showcasing Exporo. Even though we were just random participants of the Anlegertag, possibly with very limited resources and influence, the treatment dispensed to us was flawless. After clarifying that we could indeed become investors and offering to personally help (including personal business card) – without any high minimum investment amounts like other platforms – they also took the chance to give more details about the company’s business and future plans.

In the business itself, Exporo is not only offering crowdlending. They also expanded into shared ownership through crowdfunding. Investors can therefore choose between traditional fixed income loans, or choose to invest in variable income. In such projects, investors can buy a small ownership share of a larger real estate property. Also, the company’s impressive growth in Germany places it among its FinTech leaders. Finally, they are not only growing still but even consider opening capital.

Exporo +’s

  • Robust project pipeline, we have never seen their website without multiple projects open for investment, and this derives from frequent inclusion of new projects;
  • Platform uses it’s experience and projects to establish a decent curve of interest rates based on project risk and tenor. They have also included variable income projects to increase their offer for investors. Consequently even if rates are not among the highest, they seem fair;
  • Quite established in German market, this FinTech has a wide reach and offer plenty of new real estate developments;
  • Communication with Exporo is clearly a positive highlight. Not only meeting management in person helped, but customer service is also excellent. As an example, we originally forgot to include a voucher for a first investment bonus. After a quick call, without questioning much, they included the voucher’s 50 Euros directly to my account;
  • If you’re looking at investing with Exporo after reading this, take our referral here.

 

Where the FinTech could do better

  • This FinTech is focused on real estate investments, which by it’s nature just generates returns towards the end of the contract. This means investors have their cash locked for the duration of the project, and for now there is no secondary market that would confer liquidity to this type of investment;
  • We mentioned how strong Exporo is in Germany – unfortunately the flip side of this is that their presence and expansion abroad is still very shy. Even if the German market is huge and very interesting, especially if you want to grow more and get higher returns, expanding abroad would be an opportunity I hope they come to explore at some point;
  • Maybe a technicality, but companies do not have access to all investment projects in the platform. Since many FinTechs don’t even accept company investors, this is not a relevant problem. Having mentioned that, we could invest more with Exporo if we could invest in a wider variety of projects. We suspect this issue derives of a regulatory matter, in which case the complaint should be against applicable German rules. If that is the case, I would in Exporo’s place make that abundantly clear to investors.

Financials

  • Initial investment amount of 500 Euros, plus 50€ bonus, allocated to project Wohnen in Nastätten;
  • Interest rate of 6 % p.a. and tenor between 22 and 29 months;
  • Second investment of 500 Euros in project Portfolio NRW II;
  • Interest rate of 5,5 % p.a. and tenor of 32-36 months.

Finally, we’re soon reaching full disclosure of tested platforms, and new ones keep joining. We are also expanding our investment capabilities, and this will be described in a future post. As usual, keep coming back for more FinTech, entrepreneurship and more!

 

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