The Doors Are Open for Anyone Who Wants to Invest
Kameo runs an online platform for crowdlending with a strong focus on property projects. The Danish CEO sees significant growth in alternative forms of financing right now, including crowdlending, and the ambition is to list Kameo on the stock market within five years.
Crowdlending company Kameo entered the Danish market in December last year when they opened their first Copenhagen office. They currently reside in Copenhagen Fintech Lab, and the ambitions of the newcomers are high – both in the long and short run.
Kameo is authorised to operate payment services by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet), and they mainly focus on asset-backed loans to property projects and small businesses in Scandinavia, offering investors an expected return rate around 10 %.
Crowdlending – also known as loan-based crowdfunding – is considered a supplement to bank financing , and the company’s Danish CEO Jesper M. Johansen describes Kameo as a door opener to the financial market for both lenders and borrowers.
“Our philosophy is that everyone should have the opportunity to invest – regardless whether you have small savings in the bank at an interest rate of 0.0%, or you are a professional investor who, based on a calculated approach, will invest millions in a single project. Our minimum investment is set at a mere 500 DKK, and the creation of an investment account is free of charge,” emphasises Jesper M. Johansen.
According to Jesper M. Johansen, Denmark sees a great rise in alternative forms of financing right now, and crowdlending is one of the relatively new tools that more and more people are using.
“In recent years, crowdlending saw strong growth in our neighbouring countries, and we believe that Denmark will follow. After all, it would be a very logical development, especially given our history and strong tradition for co-operative movements and even cooperative banks,” Jesper M. Johansen points out.
Investing across borders
Within five years, Kameo’s Danish CEO hopes to see Kameo grow to become the preferred crowdlending platform in Scandinavia.
“We offer all private investors across Scandinavia the opportunity to invest in attractive loans to property projects and small companies with high expected returns – and at the same time a unique opportunity to invest across borders. As an investor, you have the opportunity to create a diversified portfolio of loans, essentially establishing your own small fund,” he says.
In the future, Kameo plans to expand the palette of investment opportunities on the platform. The plans include a secondary market, allowing borrowers to trade loan shares, and equity crowdfunding, especially interesting for scale-up companies.
Looking further ahead, the plan is to be listed on the stock exchange.If Danish CEO Jesper M. Johansen’s expectations are met, the listing will be a reality within the next five years.
