LANDE (formerly LendSecured) is a crowdlending platform focused on agricultural financing in Europe. It’s one of the few platforms that has carved out a genuinely distinct niche — bridging the multi-billion euro funding gap facing farmers in Eastern Europe who can’t get competitive credit from traditional banks.
LANDE was started in 2017, when two experienced professionals from the secured lending sector, Ņikita Gončars and Edgars Tālums, identified a gap in the crowdlending market: no existing player was offering low-LTV investment deals. At first, it was available exclusively for high-net-worth private investors and local banks. Since July 2020 it has been open to any European investor.
LANDE is a brand managed by Secured Finance MGMT Ltd, registered in the Latvian company register with No. 50103266451, which forms part of a group of companies providing mortgage lending and other services related to real estate and construction with two beneficial owners: Nikita Goncars and Edgars Talums.
LANDE publishes investment projects with low LTV (Loan to Value ratio). The lower the ratio, the lower the risk. As LANDE also co-invests in each project, there is an extra incentive to do proper due diligence.
Unfortunately, many platforms these days only act as promoters, indiscriminately publishing projects and letting lenders take all the risks, not giving a care in the world whether projects make sense or repayments will ever be made. I’m looking at you, Housers. Other platforms ended up being outright scams, like Envestio, Fast Invest, Monethera, Grupeer. I don’t see any such risk at all with LANDE.
Some highlights about this platform:
- Knowledge and experience in real estate market since 2008 when the first mortgage brand was established and is still working successfully;
- 5% co-funding for every project;
- Average LTV of 44%;
- Partnership with Lemonway — all investments are held on a segregated account at BNP Paribas;
- Certified real estate appraisal in English;
- LANDE issues loans to farmers, SMEs, and real estate developers — no consumer credits;
- ECSP-licensed by the Bank of Latvia (obtained 2024), operating under EU crowdfunding regulation.
LANDE’s platform milestones to date:
- Over €32 million in total loans funded since launch;
- €11.5 million funded in the past year, averaging ~€1 million per month;
- €3.7 million in total interest paid to investors;
- 9,456+ registered investors;
- 2,900+ projects funded across Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania;
- Average LTV across all portfolio: 44%;
- 93% of portfolio performing as of early 2026;
- Revenue of €1.96 million in 2024 (up 22% year-on-year), with a return to net profitability.
How does LANDE Work?
After careful evaluation procedures, projects are published on LANDE.finance where investors can find detailed information about the project, appraisal of the collateral, and full loan terms.
No hidden details — LANDE has a strong belief that transparency is the key to building strong relationships with investors, which is reflected in their monthly public performance reports.
LANDE’s business model is to finance projects using a first-rank mortgage, which is the most straightforward and secure type of real estate lending. All mortgages can be monitored online on the Land Register of the Republic of Latvia.
LANDE requires a minimum of 50 EUR to start investing. Their acceptance rate is just 5.8–6.5% of all applications — a tight filter that keeps deal quality high.
Investment process and cashflow
The Loan Contract is between the borrower and investor and is available online on LANDE for both parties. It clearly states that the investor lends money directly to the borrower with no third parties involved.
Interest rates on LANDE currently range from 10% to 16% annually, with most agricultural loans sitting around 11–12%. Loan terms typically run 9–36 months depending on project type.
Who can invest?
LANDE accepts investments from private individuals and registered legal entities. The registration process is similar for both, with different documentation required for each.
To register, a person must be at least 18 years old and submit two types of identification documents. Once all KYC and AML procedures are completed, you can start investing.
For legal entities, the representative must upload identification documents and a certificate from the local company register proving their ability to act in the company’s interests.
Registration process
First, choose “start to invest”:
You will be asked to enter an email and password, then verify your email:
After that, choose whether you are registering as an individual or legal person:
When choosing “Individual person”, your personal data will be requested:
The last step is an identification upload — two types of ID documents are required. After upload, the request is processed by Lemonway.
After completing registration, you can start investing right away.
Secondary Market
The secondary market allows investors to sell their claim rights to other registered users and exit projects early, while giving other users an opportunity to join an existing project. The seller continues to receive interest while the investment is listed for sale. There are no extra fees for this feature.
Professional Team
The LANDE team has extensive experience in real estate, mortgage lending, and construction.
How stable is the platform?
LANDE turned a corner financially in 2024. Revenue reached €1.96 million — a 22% increase over 2023 — and the platform returned to net profitability after losses incurred during its Romanian market expansion. Shareholders’ equity has grown to €600,000.
The platform obtained its ECSP (European Crowdfunding Service Provider) license from the Bank of Latvia in 2024, confirming full compliance with EU crowdfunding regulation. This is a meaningful milestone: the ECSP framework under Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 is the toughest regulatory standard for crowdfunding platforms in Europe, and LANDE was one of the first platforms in Latvia to obtain it.
Investor funds are held separately at BNP Paribas through Lemonway, a payment institution regulated by the Banque de France. LANDE also benefits from a debt collection license through Loan MGMT Ltd. and has been a member of the European Crowdfunding Network since 2020.
All projects are secured by first-rank mortgages — the most senior claim on collateral in the event of a default. Other platforms offer second-rank mortgages, which carry more risk even if they sometimes advertise higher rates.
LANDE is actively going after the agricultural loans niche, and with good reason. There is a documented funding gap between the financing needs of farmers in Eastern Europe and what banks are willing to provide. The EU agricultural sector financing gap is estimated at between €7 billion and €18.6 billion, and LANDE is one of the few regulated platforms addressing it directly.
Geographic expansion
LANDE has steadily grown beyond Latvia. The platform now operates in Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania, and entered the Polish market in late 2025. November 2025 set all-time records for the platform: €2.2 million funded across 57 projects in a single month, with Romania crossing the €1 million threshold for the first time.
Romania has not been without challenges — grain producers there faced delays in EU subsidy payments and a difficult harvest in late 2025. But the market has held up and the platform continues to scale.
Loan performance and what to watch
As of early 2026, 93% of LANDE’s portfolio is performing as expected. About 7% is in recovery or default — a number worth watching, particularly if you’re allocating a significant sum. The platform publishes monthly performance reports, which makes it easy to track how this evolves.
The default rate sits at around 5.7%, which is not negligible for a secured lending platform. That said, first-rank mortgage collateral does provide meaningful downside protection compared to unsecured or junior-lien alternatives. LANDE has been tightening its lending criteria and shifting away from higher-risk collateral categories like livestock and harvest toward land, property, and machinery.
Funds Safety
To ensure the safety of investor funds, LANDE has partnered with BNP Paribas and Lemon Way for payment processing and segregated fund custody. Lemon Way is regulated by the Banque de France and currently serves almost 200 platforms across Europe. Since 2012, it has held an APCR Payment Institution license from Banque de France.
Do they have good support?
Support is good — you can easily contact the team through their website. Every project also comes with a detailed information section covering financials, collateral appraisal, and loan terms, so you rarely need to reach out for clarification.
Regulation
LANDE obtained its ECSP (European Crowdfunding Service Provider) license from the Bank of Latvia in February 2024, becoming one of the first Latvian platforms to do so. This puts LANDE under the full EU crowdfunding regulatory framework, which includes investor protection requirements, disclosure obligations, and capital requirements for the platform itself.
LANDE already uses the services of Lemon Way, a regulated payment institution, to handle investment operations — a requirement that is now codified under the ECSP framework.
Final Verdict
LANDE has matured significantly since it was first launched to the public. The platform now holds an ECSP license, operates across four countries, has funded over €32 million in loans, and has paid out €3.7 million in interest to investors. Revenue is growing and the business is profitable.
The agricultural lending focus is a genuine differentiator. Most P2P platforms are fishing in the same pond of real estate developers and consumer borrowers. LANDE is tackling a documented financing gap in a sector that banks have chronically underserved.
That said, it’s not without risk. The ~7% recovery/default rate is real, and agricultural lending can be exposed to unpredictable factors like weather, harvest conditions, and subsidy delays. The first-rank mortgage structure provides a layer of protection, but it’s not a guarantee.
My overall read: LANDE is one of the more credible platforms in the European crowdlending space. The ECSP license, transparent reporting, skin-in-the-game co-investment model, and niche focus all work in its favor. If you’re building a diversified P2P portfolio and want exposure to agricultural lending, it’s worth a serious look.
Summary
LANDE is an agricultural P2P lending platform with a team that has been operating successfully in Latvia for many years, generating stable returns for investors in a private lending fund. They are now expanding internationally to offer the same opportunities to foreign investors. They also have a good focus on being regulated for everyone’s safety, so I see a bright future for LANDE.
Pros
- Innovation with agricultural loans
- Professional team with a successful track record
- Collateral provided and first rank mortgages make the loans more secure
Cons
- Limited number of projects at times
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