In August 2024, Petr Polenda was appointed as the new CEO of the Czech P2B investment platform Bondster, where he will benefit from more than 15 years of experience in the banking and financial sectors. During his career, he held key positions focused on risk management, lending and project management.

Polenda previously worked in the management of PPF Bank, where he was responsible for risk management as Head of the Risk Management Division. His long-term focus is on optimizing project economics and comparing them with the risks taken. In Bondster, he will also make use of his previous experience in financing property development projects and providing corporate and consumer loans.

“Joining Bondster is a challenge and an opportunity for me to bring a creative approach to new investment opportunities to the platform. My goal is to expand the range of investment products for our investors and motivate our team to achieve further success,” said Petr Polenda, the new CEO of the platform Bondster.

Bondster is a Czech investment platform focused on investments in loans. It operates as a marketplace and allows investors to participate in the proceeds of loans placed on the platform by reputable lenders from different countries around the world. The platform offers a wide range of investment opportunities with attractive returns while providing credit companies with access to the financing they require outside the traditional banking sector. Thanks to its transparency, security and high return on investment for its users, Bondster has become one of the key players on the Czech alternative investments market.

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Author of the article: Roman Muller

With the year-on-year inflation in the Czech Republic running in the double digits, people are trying to protect their savings from depreciation and are more than before looking for alternative investment opportunities. On the Bondster online platform, one can invest in a wide range of loans from almost three dozen proven providers from several countries around the world.

“More and more people are getting interested in the Bondster platform. We reached the milestone of 16,000 registered users this past September, which is about a thousand more compared to half a year ago. Our internal statistics show that men take a much more active approach to investing, as less than 15 percent of registrations represent women. Since the launch of the platform in 2017, the total volume of funds invested in loans exceeded €137 million. During that period, investors earned over € 5,3 million in interest,” says Pavel Klema, CEO at Bondster.

In recent years, the platform Bondster has been consolidating its position not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad. The number of investors is growing for example Germany, Spain, Slovakia and Italy. Foreign investors come from 125 countries around the world and together make up more than a third of registered users. Pavel Klema adds: “In the world, investments in loans are nothing extraordinary, and make up over 20 percent of investors’ portfolios. They are particularly popular for their fixed yield. People there also rely on several investment platforms at the same time. According to our survey, most Germans use three to four P2P or P2B platforms simultaneously. What investors especially appreciate about Bondster is the possibility to diversify, i.e. to spread the invested amount over several dozen loans, its high returns, the security of investments and flexibility.”

Currently, the average annual return on investments on Bondster is 13.7%. Investors have several types of loans to choose from. The most popular are consumer and business loans secured by real estate, other movable property (e.g. a car) or by the so-called buyback guarantee. Such loans constitute approximately 99% of the investment opportunities offered.

If the borrower fails to make proper loan repayments, the pledged property is either sold or the loan is repurchased by the loan provider (the provider guarantees the return of the entire invested amount, including interest, after the specified period has expired). This way, pledges and guarantees reduce investment risk.

“We are gradually acquiring new loan providers and expanding the portfolio of our investments offered. In September, we added a Jordanian non-bank lending company Lendo For Finance to our platform as this data-driven business successfully passed our rigorous credit and lending process check. Currently, investors can choose from a range of investments from 31 companies,” concludes Pavel Klema.

The number of investors on Bondster grows every year

Bondster is a Czech investment platform established in 2017 that brokers online investments in loans. By doing so, it offers an alternative to traditional investing. In order to decrease risk, the loans can be secured by, for example, real estate, personal property or a buyback guarantee. On average, people invest about €4 million a month through the platform; in January and February this year the investments even reached €5,4 million. The total amount of money invested through the platform since it was established has exceeded €109 million. Last year alone, the number of investors on the platform increased by over 30%, bringing the total number of investors to over 15,000.

“I firmly believe that the number of our investors will continue to grow this year as well reflecting that more conservative investment products can no longer beat inflation. As a result, investors are looking for investments that can beat inflation and offer acceptable risk at the same time. I am convinced they will be able to find both on Bondster,” says the company CEO Pavel Klema.

How does Bondster work?

Bondster is an online platform that enables ordinary people to invest in business or individual loans. It acts as a broker between loan providers and investors from the general public.The loans on the platform Bondster are being placed there by 28 proven providers from across the world. The base of providers is stable and none of them dropped out last year; on the contrary, their number increased from 20 to 28. The loans offered are usually secured, for example, by real estate or movable property. At the moment, there are also modern loans secured by cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) available for investment.

Loans secured by Bitcoin

Bondster is the only platform of its kind that offers Bitcoin-secured loans, which is unique not only in the Czech Republic but also in the whole of Europe. The principle of investing in these loans is no different from other types of secured loans on Bondster. The only difference is in how the loans are secured; instead of movable or immovable property, borrowers pledge their Bitcoin. The annual return on this type of loans is 10-11% and the length of investment ranges from 1 to 12 months.

According to Bondster, there has been great interest in loans secured by Bitcoin from the very beginning. They were placed on the platform in September last year and the first batch was fully invested within According to Bondster, there has been great interest in loans secured by Bitcoin from the very beginning. They were placed on the platform in September last year and the first batch was fully invested within hours. Loans are being added to the platform on an ongoing basis and interest in them remains high. Of all the loans of this type placed on the platform so far, as much as 97% were funded – exceeding €1 million in value.

Bondster – a major player in Europe

Bondster has been growing steadily since its inception in 2017. During its first year, the online platform Bondster.com attracted 4,000 investors who funded investments worth €4,9 million. In 2020, it was already used by 9,400 investors, with funded investments reaching €44,5 million. As of today, the platform boasts over 15,000 investors with more than €109 million of funded investments.

Along with the growing number of investors and investments funded, the number of foreign investors on Bondster is growing as well. Originally, it was almost exclusively Czech investors who invested on the platform; today, a third of investors come from 125 countries across the world. They are attracted by the high returns with minimal risk (the average annual return last year was 13.9% according to information by Bondster) and the possibility to invest in euros. If the platform is able to maintain the high level of returns and growth, it can probably look forward to a very interesting future, not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad.

About Bondster

Bondster is a Czech FinTech company and investment platform of the same name that brokers secured investments in loans taken by individuals and companies. It was set up in 2017 and operates as an investment marketplace that connects investors from the general public with proven lenders from the Czech Republic and abroad. By doing so, it offers an alternative to traditional investing. In order to decrease risk, the loans are secured by, for example, real estate, movable property or a buyback guarantee. With Bondster, investors achieve an average annual return of 13,9% and have funded investments worth over €109 million in total. The company is part of the Czech investment group CEP Invest.

You can find charts and statistics on the growing interest in investments at https://bondster.com/en/about-investing/bondster-in-numbers/

Media contact:

Michal Rázga

PR Specialist

E-mail: razga@bondster.cz

Tel.: +420 724 006 310