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…Risk mitigation and management are our everyday priority tasks at the strategic levels of our daily operations…
Decisions, decisions, decisions. In a market flooded with dozens of P2P lending platforms, sometimes it is difficult for the investor to choose the best investing partner. Ultimately, we always stick with the old-known platforms even if they often don’t fulfil our requirements and expectations.
Today we have Ricardas Vandzinskas, CEO and Co-founder of hive5, the new P2P marketplace that probably stands out from the crowd thanks to the team of professionals and investment proposals it has gathered within its platform.
Welcome, and thanks for coming to TodoCrowdending, Ricardas!
1 – First of all, for all our readers who are still unfamiliar with your brand, kindly tell us briefly what hive5 is and what your value proposal is for us, the users/investors.
RVHive5 is a P2P marketplace that offers European investors to invest in group-owned loan originators. The first loan originator on the platform is Ekspres Pozyczka which facilitates short-term payday loans in Poland and business loans directly to the loan originator itself. Soon there will be more opportunities on the way: consumer loans from other European geographies, also different types of business loans – green loans, estate loans, BNPL and venture loans.
Value proposal for investors:
- Higher investment ROI. Until 2022-09-22, the interest rates are increased by +1%.
- Buyback guarantee and skin in the game. Firstly, our Loan originator is obliged to Buyback the loan no later than 60 days after the loan payment due date, even if the loan is late or even if the end-borrower did not repay the loan to the lender. Both loan principal and accrued interest shall be repaid in full. Secondly, all our Hive finance group entities have a corporate policy to allocate at least 10% of equity into the provision funds, which shall be used as a buffer to secure our investors’ funds in case our Loan originator faces some financial difficulties.
- Polish consumer loans. The biggest consumer market in Europe with a stable and growing economy.
2 – At this stage, probably a few people will be thinking… “yes, ok, hive5 sounds good, but this is just another P2P marketplace; we have dozens of them…”. My question is, what is your differential value compared to the competition? Why should we choose hive5 instead of some other alternatives we have now in the market?
RVKnow-how
Firstly, we know how business is done. Let the facts speak for themselves. Andrius Rupšys and I are both EU citizens with well-known business management profiles, Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance graduates – board, supervisory board, and audit committee members in large public and private international organisations with a business track record of multinational corporate finance and technology products development. We have been in global business management for over 15 years. Accordingly, we went through quite a few macroeconomic cycles and passed the exams in real time. Hence, we know how to manoeuvre large multinational organisations in good and bad times and when to make urgent changes if necessary. At the same time, we know the importance of maintaining a long-term vision, focusing on a sustainable business strategy and having solid relations with all stakeholders and investors.
Team of professionals only
Secondly, by saying “we have a team of professionals”, we mean it. For instance, Head of Operations Inga Zubanovė and Head of Marketing and Communications Karolina Staugaitė worked at the second largest P2P platform in the EU. Alexey Kalevich, The Chief Technology Officer, worked at an international group of financial companies.
Regarding our first loan originator, “Ekspres Pozyczka “, – all the team members have great expertise in top finance companies. For example, before “Ekspres Pozyczka”, CEO Wojtek Homan was an executive at “Provident Finance”.
We love what we do.
Technology and risk management
What’s more important for not only business owners but all investors, as well, is risk management. Risk mitigation and management are our everyday priority tasks at the strategic levels of our daily operations. We are the second-to-none P2P organisation which shall shortly introduce COSO methodology-based enterprise management process. In addition, our first loan originator, “Ekspres Pozyczka”, is among the few in the market who have recently implemented a revolutionary AI-based, multisource Big Data scorecard decision engine. It allows not only to filter the fraud but also correctly manage and plan the default and ensure a fast-forward scale of the quality loan portfolio in Poland.
Diversification and global scale
Finally, as every educated investor knows, the necessity of diversification; soon, investors could experience broad diversification on one platform by investing in many different types of loans. Thus, we will relentlessly diversify within two mainstreams:
1) Geographic: “hive5” will phase its expansion into three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia.
2) Products: we have launched the platform by allowing investors to choose from consumer and business loans. That is only the beginning; soon enough, we will introduce many more secured business lending products, such as Green (or sustainable) loans, Equipment leasing, Sustainable Estate loans and BNPL powered by e-commerce.
3 – One of the most vital points I see in hive5 is the solid team of professionals behind the project, including key people with experience in other top platforms and the leadership of veterans such as Andrius and yourself. Can you tell us more about the team and how you set this project in motion together?
RVMy business partner Andrius Rupšys I met at Ruptela. His own ambitious and fast-growing global tech company with a presence on 5 continents and more than 250 employees worldwide. Our clients were complaining that getting a business loan from a bank is usually very complicated. Many projects never see their daylight. This is where our core expertise in finance and tech finally collided, bringing up to the world hive5. A platform to service a growing need for alternative financing tools in the faster-than-ever evolving digital lending world.
I am lucky to be surrounded by a team of professionals. I am very much proud of them. Let’s meet them:
Head of Operations, Inga Zubanovė.Her extensive experience includes customer care, daily operations, and process management within the financial and legal sectors. Before joining hive5, she worked in a leading thriving investment marketplace for more than three years.
Head of Marketing and Communications, Karolina Staugaitė. She has more than eight years of experience developing successful marketing strategies for international companies. She is an expert in market analysis, strategy development, and marketing optimisation. The most significant achievement in her career was scaling the tech startup that became the second largest P2P platform in the EU.
Chief Technology Officer, Aleksey Kalevich. He is a full-stack developer with more than ten years of experience building scalable websites and web applications. He has repeatedly gone through web applications’ “idea to product” cycle. His broad experience comes from smaller companies, as well as global corporations. Before joining hive5, he worked at Aventus IT company, where he had a valuable opportunity to get to know the fully digitalised consumer finance field.
Customer Support Manager. Greta Možeikaitė. She is a customer care professional with additional exclusive experience in sales. She worked at one of the largest banks in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Swedbank as a KYC Analyst, one that brought her knowledge of accounting principles, taxation policies, government regulations, and income tax procedures.
4 – From an operational perspective, one of the most critical factors for the investor is the quality of the Loan Originators and the viability/sustainability of their businesses. Can you tell us more details about Ekspres Pozyczka, the Polish Loan Originator that inaugurates the hive5 marketplace? What measures are in place to secure the Buyback Obligation and protect our interests as investors?
RVEkspres Pozyczka is obliged to BuyBack the loan no later than 60 days after the loan payment due date, even if the loan is late or even if the end-borrower did not repay the loan to the lender. Both loan principal and accrued interest shall be repaid in full.
Hive finance group entities have a corporate policy to allocate at least 10% of equity into the provision funds, which shall be used as a buffer to secure our investors’ funds in case our Loan originator faces financial difficulties.
On top of that, our Loan originator will shortly introduce consumer credit insurance products, adding extra security to their obligations in front of the investors.
Our skin in the game makes us solid and different from the other p2p companies.
5 – Another typical concern of prospective investors is the status of hive5 in regulation and compliance. Can you please tell us a bit about this?
RVThe next step in our licensing roadmap is to receive updated and clearly defined ECSP regulatory framework guidelines, which the European Commission shall announce in November this year. Based on those guidelines, we will start application preparation for the single licence “passporting” procedure allowing the provision of crowdfunding services in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EAA).
We will keep you and all our investors constantly updated on this matter, as we consider it a solid extra mile of trust in front of our investors.
6 – What would you say are the goals of hive5 in terms of volume funded, number of investors, etc., for 2022? What will be the subsequent developments regarding new functions or investment products in your platform?
RVMain KPI of hive5 – at least 6000 active investors and 10 million EUR of the total loan portfolio by the end of this year.
Also, we will keep the promise to offer diversification on our platform. By now, investors can invest in consumer and business loans from Poland. Soon there will be more opportunities on the way: consumer loans from other European geographies, also different types of business loans – green loans, estate loans, BNPL and venture loans.
To make our platform stand out from a UX/UI perspective, we plan to implement more advanced and user-friendly features in the marketplace.
7 – Anything else you would like to share with the TodoCrowdlending community?
RVWe have prepared a limited-time offer. Until 23/09/2022, the interest rates are increased by +1%.
In addition to the above, our marketing team will shortly introduce hive5 investors with a loyalty program, enabling our loyal ones to earn extra profits. Stay tuned and follow us via social channels.
Thanks for your time, Ricardas!
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