I love to diversify my investments on as many great platforms as possible. In this article, I will review the crowdlending platform Nordstreet, which I added to my portfolio in 2024.

In the article, I will tell you what I think are the biggest strengths (and weaknesses) of the platform, how to start using it, and what you can expect from investing on the platform. Let's start!

What is Nordstreet?

Nordstreet is an investment platform that allows investors to access real estate projects & business loans, mostly with projects based in the Baltics. As we'll see later in the review, there are three main types of secured loans that you can invest on the platform: business loans secured by real estate, business loans, and real estate projects (buy-to-let mortgages)

Nordstreet is an already established platform, as it was launched in 2018. They are based in Vilnius, Lithuania.

What makes them different from other similar platforms is that they offer investors to three different type of investments. Business loans are the most classic way to invest on such platforms - as you invest in a secured loan with a given term and interest. Business loans with a real estate pledge are similar, but the guarantee coming with the loan is a real estate asset, meaning more security for investors in case something goes wrong with the loan. Finally, buy-to-let mortgages allow investors to earn rental income while investing on the projects, and a possible capital gain once assets are sold.

We'll go back to those later in the review as we talk about the risks & guarantees of the platform, but it's nice to see that you can invest in three types of assets on the same platform.

According to the information provided on the platform, they have over 5000 investors, and already funded more than 40 millions Euros worth of projects.

What returns can I expect from investing on Nordstreet?

The returns you can expect on Nordstreet completely depend on which projects you invest in, which I will tell you more about when we'll see how to use the platform. 

Currently, you can get up to 15% returns on the platform for some business loans, and they advertise an average annual return of 12.44% for investors, which I will of course verify in this review and by investing on the platform.

Is it safe to invest on Nordstreet?

The question of the safety of the investors funds is central when investing on a crowdlending platform, as they will be managing all the money that you deposit on the platform and invest it in the projects. When checking a new platform, I look at three things: what the platforms offers in terms of guarantees, the company itself (and their team), and finally the originators of the projects present on the platform.

Risks & guarantees on Nordstreet

On Nordstreet, you invest in secured loans in the Baltics - meaning all projects present on the platform are backed by some type of guarantee (for example real estate), which is the base of the investors funds safety on the platform.

Looking at the statistics provided by the platform, you can see their LTV (Loan to Value) of real estate loans are quite good, with a 50% average. This means that if something goes wrong with those loans, there will be enough money to repay investors. They also already have a large number of investments that have repaid to investors.

Finally, the company is fully supervised by the Central Bank of Lithuania, meaning additional safety for investors.

The Company & the Team

After that, I always check the company is indeed a registered company. Here, I checked the official company register in Lithuania, and it is indeed registered as a company.

Then, I check the management team to see who is actually running the company & their track records. Here, I have to say that is was not so easy to find on their website, which is something they should improve. I had to look on their LinkedIn page to find information about their company.

I for example checked the profile of their CEO and Co-Founder, Tadas Budrikis. I could see that he was present in the company since the start, and also was a managing partner at another company before that.

Projects originators

I also always have a close look at where the projects on the platform are coming from, as this is usually where a platform will start to have issues if anything bad happens like a financial crisis. 

First, it's worth noting that all projects present on the platform are coming from external originators, that apply for their projects to be funded by the platform.

Once someone applies for funding, Nordstreet then does a careful analysis of the project to evaluate all the risks, and decide if it suitable for their platform. They for example assign a risk score to the project, to make sure investors are fully informed about the risk they are taking when investing.

After that, when it project is approved, it is then listed for funding on the platform.

In general, I would have liked to see more transparency and numbers on this side, for example how many loans are approved compared to the number of applicants. However, they do for example only choose loans with low LTVs, with an average LTV around 50% on the platform.

Getting started with Nordstreet

It is actually really easy to get started with Nordstreet, and start generating interests on the platform.

The first step is to open an account and get verified. This was done really quickly, and including the ID verification part it was all done in under 5 minutes.

Next, you will have to deposit funds in your account to start investing in loans and generate interests. This is really easy on Nordstreet, as you can do that with a simple bank transfer.

Once this is done, you can actually start investing in loans on the platform.

From there, you can immediately see what projects are currently available, and get some details about the loans like the annual return, LTV, and amount. Note that the minimum investment amount is just 50 Euros, which is similar to other platforms in the field.

If you want more details, you can simply click on the projects you want to get more information about it:

There is also a secondary market on the platform, which allows you to quickly invest in past projects in case no live projects are currently available, or to find good opportunities at a discounted price:

The nice thing about Nordstreet is that they also have an auto-invest function, which is really easy to activate from the interface.

As for all the platforms I review, I also tried to withdraw money, and the money was back on my account in just 2 days.

My Results so far with Nordstreet

At the time I published this article, I just started investing on Nordstreet, and it is of course too early to talk about long-term yields on the platform, but I can say that so far everything went smoothly and I will definitely invest more on the platform in the future.

Should You Invest on Nordstreet?

Overall, I can say I really liked Nordstreet as an investment platform. I always like to invest on a good real estate platform, and I really like the fact that you have access to three type of investments on the same platform. Add to that good yields, and all the features you can expected from such a platform like auto-invest and a secondary market. I would have like to see more transparency overall - especially regarding their team and process to select loans on the platform.

Overall, a solid crowdlending platform that I can imagine adding in any portfolio.

This article is only representing my own view about the platform(s) and financial instruments mentioned in it, and is not an investment recommendation. Please always consider all risks before investment, and consult an authorised investment advisor in your country of residence in case you have any doubts.