We constantly monitor community feedback, and we see that our unique structure — combining Swiss headquarters with Eastern European projects — often raises questions. And rightly so. In this article, we want to clarify the reasoning behind our strategy, explain our regulatory roadmap, and provide context for our financial decisions.
It is important to clearly explain the company’s structure and address a common question: Why is the office in Switzerland while the projects are located in Eastern Europe? The answer is straightforward and transparent.
The founders of Maclear are Swiss residents with Estonian roots. This naturally shaped the business structure. The first business relationships and borrowers were sourced from Estonia, a market the founders understand deeply due to their background and long-standing local expertise.
Notably, the majority of these initial borrowers have already successfully repaid the principal of their loans. They played a key role in launching the platform and, in practice, demonstrated the viability and sustainability of the business model.
Questions about the geographic focus of projects are common among investors, and they are entirely reasonable. To understand this, it is important to look at how business financing works in different regions.
In Switzerland, the key interest rate is close to zero. Local businesses have access to very inexpensive bank financing, which makes borrowing through a P2P platform economically unattractive for them.
The situation in Eastern Europe is different. Bank loans are more expensive, and access to credit for small and medium-sized businesses is significantly more limited. At the same time, business margins in developing regions are often higher. As a result, local companies are willing to pay a premium for speed, flexibility, and access to capital.
Maclear’s model is built precisely on this market arbitrage. We attract capital from stable economies and allocate it to regions where capital is in short supply. This follows standard market logic.
For clarity: while we do not finance Swiss projects, we do have a strong base of Swiss investors. Their share is comparable to that of investors from Germany.
Locating our development and marketing teams in the Baltic states is a deliberate decision based on efficiency and trust.
First, the personal factor remains important. The core of our team consists of trusted professionals whom the founders have worked with for many years. This long-term cooperation allows us to maintain a high level of execution quality and ensure the security of all operational processes.
Second, the cost of employing IT specialists in Zurich is multiple times higher than in Tallinn or Riga. Relocating the entire operational function to Switzerland would significantly reduce margins and inevitably lead to lower returns for investors.
Our approach is to prioritize quality while maintaining reasonable costs. This enables us to offer investors a balanced and transparent risk–return profile.
Maclear was launched as a project in 2022. At that time, the pan-European crowdfunding regulation (ECSP) had not yet come into force and was still in the implementation phase.
In this regulatory vacuum, choosing Switzerland’s PolyReg was a deliberate and pragmatic decision. It allowed us to start operations quickly and legally within the founders’ home jurisdiction, relying on a framework known for its stability and strong reputation. Changing the regulator just one year after launch would have been inefficient, diluted management focus, and slowed product development.
We also acknowledge that PolyReg primarily focuses on capital integrity and due diligence procedures. For us, at the early stage, this was the top priority: building a platform protected from reputational and compliance risks.
Today, Maclear has evolved into a larger and more mature platform, with over 25,000 investors and more than €60 million under management. At this stage, we recognize that we have outgrown the initial regulatory setup. Obtaining an ECSP license is already included in our roadmap as a necessary step to support further scaling across Europe.
Some reviews point to the company’s loss in 2023 as a negative indicator. Here, it is important to consider the broader context. Maclear is in an active scaling phase. In fintech, profitability at this stage is often the exception rather than the norm and can indicate underinvestment in growth rather than operational strength.
The reported loss of CHF 118,379 was planned and fully controlled. These funds were reinvested into platform development, team expansion, and marketing activities. Our current priority is to build market share and strengthen the technological foundation of the platform, not to optimize for short-term accounting profit.
We have been asked why the 2023 financial report was published with a delay. The answer lies in the evolution of our corporate culture and governance practices.
Maclear AG is a private company. Under Swiss law, we are not required to publish financial statements publicly, unlike listed public companies.
At the early stage, our primary focus was on operational performance, and public disclosure was not considered a priority. The 2023 report was prepared for internal use on time, as evidenced by the original file date of April 2024. The decision to make it public was taken later, in direct response to requests from a growing investor community.
We listened to our investors. Going forward, voluntary transparency will become a standard practice for Maclear.
Regarding the involvement of BlueAudit: the 2023 financial statements were indeed reviewed by our partners. If the published version of the document did not include the appropriate reference or marking, this was a technical oversight during the file upload process, which we will correct.
The delay in publishing the 2024 financial report is due to a large-scale technical migration. Over the past year, we completed a full transition of the platform’s backend to a new architecture designed to support a significantly higher volume of transactions.
To eliminate any risk of data inconsistencies during the migration, our finance team is currently performing final transaction verification manually. This is a deliberate control measure aimed at ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the reported figures.
We plan to publish the audited 2024 financial report within the next 2–3 months. Following that, and in line with our updated transparency approach, we intend to release the 2025 financial data one quarter later.
One of the claims in the recent review is that the platform “does not publish meaningful statistics.” This conclusion appears to be based on outdated information.
In the second half of 2025, Maclear implemented substantial updates to its transparency framework:
Throughout Maclear’s history, there has been only one recorded default: the Italian company Vibroedil S.R.L.
This fact has never been concealed. The case has always been public, with a detailed breakdown published on our blog and communicated across all official channels, including Telegram and email. Since the beginning of the case, it has also been actively discussed within an online community of over 1,500 users, with regular and transparent responses from the platform’s management.
Despite the borrower’s bankruptcy, investors recovered 100% of the principal. This outcome was achieved through Maclear’s work on the settlement agreement and the presence of hard guarantees. Importantly, the Provision Fund was not used.
We view this case not as a reputational weakness, but as practical proof of the effectiveness of our risk model. Even in a borrower bankruptcy scenario, investor capital was protected and fully returned.
Some reviews mention a high level of similar comments across social networks and blogs during the period from October to December 2025.
Here, we want to be fully transparent. Maclear follows a growth-hacking approach. In 2025, this includes testing experimental tools, such as AI-driven algorithms for brand awareness and automated content distribution. In the fourth quarter, we worked with several external agencies that used these tools to scale our media presence.
After reviewing the campaign results and the feedback from the community, including bloggers, we concluded that this approach is not appropriate for a conservative investment audience and may negatively affect reputation.
We value community trust more than reach metrics. As a result, the campaign was discontinued in early December, and our marketing strategy was adjusted. We have since shifted our focus toward organic influencer marketing and the active development of our investor referral program.
Some reviews compare borrower data shown on the platform with information from public registries and point out differences in reported revenue, assets, and LTV figures.
We would like to clarify the methodological differences behind these numbers, so investors clearly understand how the figures presented in project profiles are calculated and why they may differ from registry data.
It is important to understand that public registries typically reflect the book value of assets. This value is often historical and may be reduced due to accounting depreciation, which means it does not necessarily represent the asset’s current economic value.
When calculating the Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio, Maclear relies on an independent assessment of the collateral’s market value at the time the loan is issued. This approach is standard in credit risk management and is designed to reflect the realistic liquidation value of the collateral under current market conditions.
As a result, differences between registry data and platform figures do not indicate inconsistencies, but rather stem from the use of different valuation methodologies.
The majority of projects on the platform fall under growth financing.
The figures investors see in project descriptions often include projected revenue, reflecting the performance the company expects to achieve as a result of the financing raised, for example after acquiring new equipment or expanding operations.
Comparing these forward-looking figures with last year’s tax filings, when the financed assets were not yet in place, is methodologically incorrect. Our assessment focuses on the future cash flow, as this is the source from which the loan will be serviced and repaid.
References to a small number of registered employees are often misinterpreted. For small and medium-sized businesses, especially in the construction and logistics sectors, working with subcontractors and outsourced teams is a common and standard practice.
From our perspective as a platform, the key factor is the borrower’s actual capacity to execute contracts. This includes valid agreements with subcontractors, access to equipment, and operational resources, rather than the formal headcount listed for a specific legal entity.
Our loan decisions are based on a comprehensive analysis that includes the market valuation of collateral, management reporting, and the borrower’s business plan. Public registries provide important but historical information, often with up to a one-year delay, and therefore do not always reflect the current potential or true value of a business’s assets.
Below is a quote from one of our investors, shared in the official community chat:
To conclude, we want to highlight the most important point. The European crowdlending market is maturing. This is an emerging industry that is increasingly becoming a real alternative to traditional bank financing.
We believe that all platforms are important and have their place. The market is large and continues to grow, leaving room for different business models to coexist.
While some platforms focus on consumer loans with buyback guarantees, Maclear has chosen the path of collateral-backed business lending and the creation of risk mitigation mechanisms such as the Provision Fund. These models do not compete — they complement each other.
Our advice to investors:
Looking ahead, 2026 promises to be a year of growth, and we are confident it will bring new successes for our entire community.
Thank you for your questions, your constructive feedback, and your trust.
