Achtstein Invest - Risk and return review
Achtstein Invest - Returns and loss rates
Achtstein Invest – Pros & Cons
About Achtstein Invest
What it is
Achtstein Invest is a crowdinvesting platform from Cologne that finances German property projects and growing companies through subordinated loans. Its home page advertises interest of up to 12% a year and says every project completed so far has been a full success (October 2026). Its project tabs show one current offer, 7 funded projects still running and 9 repaid; the counters at the top of the same page show 15 funded and 9 repaid.
How it works
You register free of charge, verify your identity by video and lend to the company behind a project. The current offer, a modernised block of 19 units in Oldenburg, pays a forecast 9.5% a year, with interest and capital at the end, a regular term to 31 December 2026 and a latest end date of 30 June 2027. The minimum per project is €250 on the offer page, while elsewhere the site says €100. New customers are offered a bonus of up to €500.
Returns
The only return figure is the advertised up to 12% a year (October 2026); the current offer forecasts 9.5% (10.5% for investors who joined between 13 March and 10 April 2026). These are contract rates. No realised or average return is published.
Losses and defaults
Achtstein publishes no default rate, loss figure or repayment status per project. Its claim that every completed project was a full success is not backed by figures, and it does not say what 'completed' means. The status of the 7 running projects is not shown. The current offer was opened in March 2026 and is still marked as funding in October 2026.
What secures your money
Nothing secures your money. Offers are subordinated loans: you are repaid only after the issuer's other creditors, including any bank lending against the property. No mortgage, pledge, buyback, guarantee or reserve fund for investors is described. Repayment depends on the project; in the current Oldenburg offer, the loans are to be repaid from selling the 19 flats and commercial unit one by one, of which 67% were sold or reserved according to the offer page. The issuer owns the building, but investors have no charge on it. Until an offer reaches its funding threshold, money waits in a trust account at secupay AG, a licensed payment institution, and is returned if the threshold is missed. No figures on repayments or recoveries are published.
Who runs it and its licence
The platform is run by Achtstein Invest AG (Cologne, HRB 27966, Bonn local court). It holds no licence of its own: it is registered with the German financial regulator BaFin as a tied agent of Effecta GmbH under number 80171707, and arranges investments for the account and under the liability of Effecta, an investment firm supervised by BaFin. Offers are investment products under German law with a short information sheet. No public review score was found.
Fees
Investors pay no fees: registration and investing are free, according to the platform, and the full amount goes into the project. What issuers pay Achtstein is not published.
Getting your money out
Investors cannot end a loan before the agreed term, and the platform describes no secondary market. You can withdraw within 14 days of investing. Otherwise money comes back when the issuer repays, which the platform says can be earlier or later than planned depending on the market.
Our view
Return: Very High — the platform advertises up to 12% a year, though nothing realised is published. Risk: High (higher means more risk) — subordinated, unsecured loans, a young platform with 17 projects, no loss figures and counters that contradict each other. Risk-return: Low — held at Low because only an advertised rate exists.
Regulation
License / Regulation: Achtstein Invest AG (Cologne, HRB 27966, Amtsgericht Bonn) holds no licence of its own. It is registered with BaFin as a tied agent of Effecta GmbH (tied-agent register number 80171707) and arranges financial instruments exclusively for the account and under the liability of Effecta GmbH, an investment firm supervised by BaFin. Offers are subordinated loans under the German Investment Products Act (Vermögensanlagengesetz). No compensation scheme covers the loans.
Functionality
For Investors
Useful Information
Indirectly. Achtstein Invest AG has no licence of its own; it is registered with BaFin as a tied agent of Effecta GmbH (register number 80171707) and arranges investments under Effecta's liability.
Until an offer reaches its funding threshold, your money sits in a trust account at secupay AG, a licensed payment institution. After that it is paid to the issuer, and your loan is a claim on that company.
€250 on the current offer page; other parts of the site say €100.
The platform advertises up to 12% a year, and the current offer forecasts 9.5%. It says every completed project was a full success, with 9 projects repaid, but publishes no return, default or loss figures.
Nothing. The loans are subordinated, so you rank after other creditors, and no mortgage, pledge, buyback or guarantee is described for investors.
You can withdraw within 14 days. After that you cannot end the loan before its term, and the platform describes no way to sell.
None. Registration and investing are free for investors, according to the platform.
Your loan is with the issuer, not with Achtstein, so the platform's failure would not end your claim. If the issuer fails, you rank after its other creditors and can lose all your money.
The project tabs show 1 current, 7 funded and 9 repaid projects, while the counters on the same page show 15 funded and 9 repaid (October 2026). The minimum is also given as both €250 and €100. The platform does not explain the difference.
