DagobertInvest Review 2026

What it is

dagobertinvest is an Austrian property crowdfunding platform, run from Vienna by dagobertinvest gmbh since 2015 and owned by dagobertinvest AG. Investors lend to property developers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, and since 2023 also to green-energy projects. The platform says it has placed €167 million across 370 projects (August 2026). It holds an EU crowdfunding licence from the Austrian regulator (FMA) since September 2023.

How it works

You choose projects yourself, from €100 and up to €100,000 per investment. Each project is a loan or bond to a developer for 12 to 36 months. The developer's bank provides most of the money, typically 70% to 85%, with a mortgage; the crowd puts in the remaining 15% to 30% and ranks behind the bank. Terms are often extended when projects run late. There is no automatic investing.

Returns

dagobertinvest publishes only the rates it offers, not what investors actually earned. The two offers listed in October 2026 advertise 14% a year (a subordinated mini bond for row houses near Vienna, 24 months) and 13.5% (a junior loan for a hotel in the Bavarian Alps, 24 months); both were still marked as coming soon. These are gross rates, before the 0.5% yearly service fee, tax and any losses. Rates have risen sharply since 2022, which reflects riskier deals rather than better results.

Losses and defaults

Losses have been heavy. The platform's own required disclosure gives a default rate of 16.67% for loans arranged under its EU licence: a loan counts as defaulted when repayment at the end of the (possibly extended) term is more than 90 days late. Behind that figure, 3 of the 6 loans that came due in 2025 defaulted (50%); none had come due in 2023 or 2024. The page is undated, gives no euro amounts and leaves out the larger book of loans made before September 2023. Independent tracking of the platform's offerings points to 41 of 206 projects in insolvency proceedings or total loss, and 56 more not paying on schedule (August 2026).

What secures your money

Usually nothing that comes before the bank. Your loan or bond is subordinated: the bank's mortgage is paid first, so when a development fails there is often little or nothing left for crowd investors. There is no buyback, reserve fund or insurance, and no independent valuation or loan-to-value limit is published for the crowd's share. A debt-collection company in the same group pursues defaulted borrowers, paid for by the investors' service fee; the platform has said that about €700,000 spent on recovery brought no substantial success (as of August 2026). No recovery rate is published. In plain words: you lend behind the bank, and if the project fails you should expect to lose most or all of that money.

Who runs it and its licence

dagobertinvest gmbh (Vienna, company number FN 444877 g) was authorised by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) as a crowdfunding service provider under the EU rules on 13 September 2023, to arrange loans and place securities. The FMA granted it inside its regulatory sandbox, which it described as limited to two years; we found no notice that the authorisation was withdrawn or has expired. No regulator action against the platform was found. The managing director changed in May 2026.

Fees

There is no fee to invest. Investors pay a service fee of 0.5% a year on the amount invested, which funds contract enforcement and debt collection. Interest is paid before tax.

Getting your money out

Your money comes back only when the developer repays at the end of the term, which is often extended. There is no market to sell your investment; the platform itself says the investment can be traded only to a limited extent. If a project fails, money can be stuck for years in insolvency proceedings.

Our view

Return: Very High — offers advertise 13.5% to 14% a year, but these are promises only; no realised return is published. Risk: Very High (higher means more risk) — half of the loans that came due under the new licence in 2025 defaulted, payment delays are widespread, the crowd ranks behind the bank, and no recoveries are published. Risk-return: Low — high advertised rates for a very high level of risk, with nothing published on what investors actually earned.