Crowd2Fund Review 2026

What it is

Crowd2Fund is a small UK peer-to-business lending platform. Private investors lend to established British small and medium-sized businesses, mostly through an Innovative Finance ISA. It is run by Crowd2Fund Limited in London, set up in 2013. Its statistics page shows £51.00 million lent through 901 loans since the start (read October 2026; the page carries no date). In 2025, 470 new investors registered, 37 loans were fully repaid, and £1.92 million of capital and £451,000 of interest were paid back to investors.

How it works

Businesses apply and are graded A to E using an Equifax credit score; the grade sets the interest rate. You choose loans yourself or use automatic lending, and receive monthly repayments of capital and interest into your platform account. Loan types include amortising loans, revenue-based loans, interest-only loans, bonds and debentures; the platform itself says interest-only loans carry more risk. The ISA starts from £100 and its calculator shows terms of six months to five years. Borrowers may repay early without a penalty.

Returns

Crowd2Fund advertises 12% to 18% a year, before its fee and before bad debt (October 2026). Its own model says an investor who lent to every loan made in 2025 would earn 11.91% a year after the 1% fee but before any losses (published 22 December 2025). That is not what investors actually earned: no return after bad debt has been published, and the last actual figure, 8.51%, dates from 2018. The ISA example on the statistics page uses a target of 9.84% a year. Investors have earned £8.83 million of interest in total (October 2026). If the 8.68% write-off rate is measured against all money lent, write-offs come to roughly £4.4 million, about half of that interest (calculated from the platform's own figures).

Losses and defaults

Defaults are high and rising. In its yearly outcomes statement for the year to 30 April 2025, required by the UK regulator, Crowd2Fund reported that 12.4% of all money lent (£6.14 million of £49.5 million) was in default. Default means more than 90 days late or the borrower in insolvency (180 days for loans secured on property). That was up from 10.8% a year earlier; it was 10% for fixed loans and 17% for revenue loans, and the platform expected 12.1% for April 2026. Write-offs were 7.4% of money lent. The statistics page now shows 8.68% of loans written off (read October 2026, undated), not counting money paid back to investors later. The same page shows "defaulted loans 5.20%" with no definition or date, which cannot be matched to the 12.4% in the official statement. The statement for the year to April 2026 was due within four months of the year end and had not been published by late October 2026. Independent analysis points to 54 of 113 loans made after a credit-policy change in January 2021 being more than 90 days late or in default by September 2025.

What secures your money

Most loans are backed by personal guarantees from the business owners, and some also by a charge over business assets or over property. There is no buyback, no reserve fund and no insurance. Borrowers are screened with an Equifax score and automated checks, but no valuation process or loan-to-value limit is published. When a borrower stops paying, Crowd2Fund chases the debt through letters, statutory demands, bankruptcy petitions and winding-up orders, which can take years; it publishes no recovery rate. In plain words: about one pound in eight lent has gone into default and close to a tenth has been written off, so the guarantees have not stopped large losses.

Who runs it and its licence

Crowd2Fund Limited (company number 08472687, London) is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference 623683. Your loans are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The company itself is under financial strain. Its audited accounts for the year to 30 April 2025 show a loss of £1.16 million and net liabilities of £2,422,121 (a year earlier: £236,832). The auditor signed them off without qualification but drew attention to a material uncertainty about whether the company can keep going. The company depends on its main shareholder: £2.74 million lent interest-free by a company he controls is to be turned into shares, which the UK Financial Conduct Authority agreed to in April 2026 but which had not been completed, and he has promised in writing to support the company until 30 April 2027. After the year end, £408,000 owed by the founder and a company he controls was written off. Those accounts were filed on 30 April 2026, about three months late. On 14 April 2026 the founder ceased to control the company and a shareholder whose company is its main funder took control; new shares were issued in 2025 and January 2026, and new articles were adopted in May 2026. The founder had stepped down as chief executive in July 2023.

Fees

Investors pay 1% of each repayment of capital and interest as it arrives; the 11.91% model figure is after this fee. Paying in by card or bank transfer is free. Cash waiting in your account earns no interest.

Getting your money out

Your money comes back as borrowers repay, monthly over terms of up to five years, and much later or not at all if a loan defaults. You can try to sell loans on the platform's Exchange at a price you set, but only loans that are repaying on time and graded A to C may be listed, so the loans you would most want to sell cannot be. On 23 August 2026 the Exchange showed no loans for sale. Cash already in your account can be withdrawn to your bank after identity checks.

Our view

Return: High — 11.91% a year in the platform's own model for 2025 loans, after its fee but before bad debt; nothing realised after losses is published. Risk: Very High (higher means more risk) — 8.68% of loans have been written off, which on its own is at the top of our scale, and defaults are rising, the platform's figures are undated and contradict each other, its 2026 outcomes statement is overdue and the operator's auditor has raised doubts about its future, which depends on its main shareholder. Risk-return: Low — a high advertised return that losses have already cut deeply.