What it is
Companisto is a German startup investment platform, founded in Berlin in 2012 by David Rhotert and Tamo Zwinge and still run by them. It lets ordinary investors back young companies, mostly from German-speaking countries. Its homepage shows €396 million of investment commitments in 514 funding rounds and 194,813 registered investors (October 2026; the figures carry no date). Unusually for a startup platform, it also publishes how its tracked investments have turned out.
How it works
You choose each company yourself, from €250 with the free basic account; the Angel Club starts at €10,000. Basic investors usually receive pooled participation certificates (Genussscheine) or shares, and Angel Club members receive real company shares, which can also qualify for the German state INVEST grant refunding 15% of the investment. A round runs for up to eight weeks; if it does not go ahead, you get your money back. Identity is checked by PostIdent or video before you invest.
Returns
Companisto values the companies still active at €217.6 million against €134.9 million invested in them, a 61% increase (October 2026). This is a gain on paper, set by later funding rounds, built up over many years and not a yearly rate. Money actually paid back is much smaller: €25.4 million, 12.09% of the €210.0 million in its tracked portfolio, from 41 of 380 rounds (some of these were repayments of 8% venture loans). Its best published sale is KoRo, which returned six times the money in March 2022; Mineko returned about twice the money after about ten years (2026). Companisto publishes no yearly return or money multiple.
Losses and defaults
Companisto shows €49.7 million written off, 23.68% of the €210.0 million in its tracked portfolio, and 116 of 380 tracked rounds (30.53%) classed as failed (October 2026). Written-off money has risen from about 19% in September 2022. The tracked portfolio leaves out 134 of the 514 rounds, the figures carry no date and no definition of a failure is published. Rounds that are behind plan but not yet written off are not counted, so the final share is likely higher.
What secures your money
Nothing secures your money. You invest in young unlisted companies with no collateral, no buyback, no reserve fund and no insurance, and no compensation scheme covers investment losses. With the basic account you usually receive pooled participation certificates (Genussscheine) or shares; older rounds also used subordinated profit-participating loans. These rank behind the company's other creditors, so in an insolvency investors normally recover nothing. Angel Club members (from EUR 10,000) receive real shares. Funded companies must report to investors every quarter, and investors vote together on major events such as a sale. Money is passed to the company only if the round goes ahead; otherwise it is returned in full.
Who runs it and its licence
Companisto GmbH (Berlin, HRB 132811 B) holds a German trade licence for brokering investments (§34f GewO), supervised by the Berlin district office of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, not by BaFin. Securities offers are arranged by Companisto Wertpapier GmbH as a tied agent of Effecta GmbH, which is the BaFin-supervised firm (BaFin registration 80164077). Companisto does not hold an EU crowdfunding licence. No BaFin warning or sanction against Companisto was found.
Fees
Using Companisto is free for investors. It takes 15% of the profit paid out to you (a carry fee). The startups pay Companisto 15% of the money they raise plus 0.65% a year of the funding amount. Fees on the secondary market are not published.
Getting your money out
There is no maturity date. Money comes back when a company is sold, listed or buys investors out, which has taken from four years (KoRo) to about ten (Mineko). Companisto runs a secondary market where investors can offer their holdings to other members, but it publishes no prices, trade volumes or fees, so selling depends on finding a buyer.
Our view
Return: Very High — a 61% paper gain on the active portfolio and real sales such as KoRo at six times the money, though cash paid back is 12% of the money invested. Risk: Very High (higher means more risk) — 23.68% of the tracked money has been written off and 30.53% of rounds have failed, and investors rank behind creditors. Risk-return: Medium — startup investments are high risk and high return by nature, so we judge them on their chance of large gains: Companisto has a long deal flow, real exits and a secondary market, and it publishes its failures, which few rivals do.
Companisto GmbH holds a German trade licence to broker investments (§34f GewO), supervised by the Bezirksamt Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg von Berlin (intermediary register D-F-107-R98V-66). Securities are arranged by Companisto Wertpapier GmbH as a tied agent under the liability of Effecta GmbH, which is supervised by BaFin (registration 80164077). Companisto holds no EU crowdfunding licence and is not itself supervised by BaFin.
