Capital Circle Review

What it is

Capital Circle is a Dutch crowdlending platform, active since September 2015, where private investors lend to small and medium-sized businesses, mostly against property. It is part of KOM Group B.V. (Kapitaal op Maat), which took it over in 2023. Since launch it has financed 242 projects for €25,357,400 (as of November 2026).

How it works

You choose each project and invest from €100. Projects need at least €50,000 and at most €5 million. Interest and repayments are paid into your wallet. Open projects in November 2026 offered 9% to 10% a year, for example 10% over 36 months for a fashion wholesaler's working capital secured by a second mortgage. Private investors first take the European entry knowledge test and a loss-bearing calculation. Since 10 September 2026 there is also auto-invest and an internal bulletin board for selling loans, on a new account in the updated platform; older accounts run on a separate platform under the earlier exemption regime.

Returns

The platform gives two different figures on the same page, neither dated. It states a current average net return of 6.7% a year (IRR). Its key figures show 5.91%: the average net return of all active investors per 12 months over the last 3 years, without reinvesting interest and repayments. The second, lower figure is the closer measure of what investors actually earned. Rates offered on new projects are higher, 9% to 10% a year.

Losses and defaults

The platform publishes a relative default rate of 0.78%: the share of the amount funded over the last 42 months where payments are at least 3 instalments and 90 days in total behind (undated, read November 2026). It covers only loans of the last 42 months, so older loans are not counted, and no figure on actual losses after recovery is published.

What secures your money

Most loans are secured. Projects are typically business loans covered by a second mortgage on property or by the surplus value of property, and the platform says the risk is limited because collateral provides security. The security is held for investors by a separate foundation, Stichting Security Trustee KOM Group. A second mortgage ranks behind the first lender, usually a bank, so in a forced sale investors are paid only after that lender. Each project gets a risk class (for example B). No guarantee or buyback is stated, and the platform publishes no figure on how much it has recovered from loans in default. Not every project fits this profile: one open project in November 2026 lends to a business in Ghana.

Who runs it and its licence

The platform is run by KOM Group B.V., which uses the names Kapitaal op Maat and Capital Circle. The Dutch market regulator (AFM) granted it a licence as a crowdfunding service provider on 30 November 2022, registered under number 32000003, for facilitating loans, applying credit scores and proposing interest rates. The Dutch central bank (DNB) supervises its finances. It is also listed for France under the European passport (March 2026). The licence was extended in 2026 for the bulletin board and individual portfolio management.

Fees

Investors no longer pay the 1% intermediation fee on outstanding money on the new platform; they pay €0.25 for each deposit to or withdrawal from their wallet. Opening an account is free. Borrowers pay €395 to have the application assessed, €350 to publish the project, a success fee from 3% (at least €2,000) of the amount raised, and €0.25 a month per investor in the project for administration, all before VAT.

Getting your money out

Loans run to their term, for example 36 months, with interest and repayments paid into your wallet. Since September 2026 you can offer running loans to other investors on the internal bulletin board, but only from a new account, and a sale needs a buyer. Cash in the wallet can be paid back to your linked bank account at any time.

Our view

Return: Low, because the platform states an average net return of 6.7% a year, not the 9% to 10% offered on new projects. Risk: Very Low (higher means more risk): 0.78% of the amount funded over the last 42 months went into default, and most loans are secured by property. Risk-return: Low, because active investors earned 5.91% a year net over three years.