A second conversation, this time in person
This was Iván's second appearance on the channel. The first conversation took place online back in July, prompted by a wave of community questions — how the platform calculates LTV, what its growth plans looked like, and, above all, what was happening with the notice issued by the Spanish regulator. Iván answered those questions in detail at the time, and roughly two months have passed since.
In the interim, the dialogue between Maclear and the InvantAPPs community continued. But the same period also saw a handful of other content creators publish material that was, in Maclear's view, not always built on solid ground. Combined with lingering questions around the CNMV notice and the platform's ongoing regulatory process, community concern kept building.
That's what encouraged the team to go a step further: bring the conversation to Spain itself, sit down with Antonio in person, and address the questions investors had been raising in the Invant APPs community over the past weeks head-on. The interview ran as a straight question-and-answer format, and no topic was left unaddressed, including the sharpest ones.
Block 1: aggressive marketing
The conversation opened with a topic many investors had flagged: a noticeable increase in Maclear's advertising presence in recent weeks, sometimes to the point of concern.
Antonio opened with a question investors had been asking directly: why has Maclear's advertising visibly increased in recent weeks?
Iván explained the shift as a change in priorities rather than a change in direction. For a long time, the team had been focused on product development — new features, refining the borrower assessment process, customer service, the platform experience — and advertising had taken a back seat. Maclear has really only been fully operational since 2023, counting from its first funded project, and much of that time went into putting the company on solid footing. Advertising was the last thing on the list. So when investors now see more ads and a more visible marketing approach, it can come across as aggressive — but in reality, it's simply an area we're finally giving proper attention.
"We'd been very focused on product development... and we left advertising a bit on the side. Now we want to give more attention to that side too."
Iván also addressed the retargeting ads some users have noticed after simply searching for Maclear online — a mechanic that relies on browser cookies rather than anything platform-specific.
"If it bothers someone, they can just clear the cache, clear the cookies, and they'll see a lot less of Maclear... it's partly the user's responsibility."
Asked, half-jokingly, whether he personally gets paid to appear in the ads himself, Iván was quick to clarify:
"No, no, no — honestly, I do it out of loyalty to the brand."
To be clear, since it's a question investors often ask: both advertising and bonuses are funded through Maclear's own marketing budget — never with investor money, which stays on a separate, segregated account.
Block 2: the path to European regulation
Iván called this the cornerstone of the whole conversation, and it's where the sharpest questions landed. The discussion centered mainly on two things: the notice issued by the Spanish regulator, the CNMV, and Maclear's pursuit of the ECSPR license.
Worth highlighting here: the ECSPR license is not a requirement for Maclear. As a platform already regulated in Switzerland, Maclear can legally operate without it. But the company decided to pursue it anyway — as a way to be even more transparent and to offer investors an added layer of security on the platform.
"With this notice, with this interest from the audience, we've decided to move our other plans and make regulation the priority."
We understand how much transparency and financial protection matter to our investors, and obtaining the European license is one concrete way to demonstrate that commitment.
Exclusively for the podcast, Iván shared that Maclear is pursuing three parallel paths toward the ECSPR license — applying directly, forming a partnership with an already-regulated entity, and, for the first time publicly, confirming that the company is exploring registering a legal entity in Spain:
"We want to register a legal address in Spain. I'm not saying we're going to put up a Maclear building, but it's one of the possibilities we're working on to obtain the license directly."
Spain, in particular, is a point of strong interest for Maclear — a significant part of the platform's investor base is based there, and the community has grown into one of the company's largest. Beyond that connection, Spain also represents a practical opportunity: establishing a legal presence there could serve as a route toward obtaining a fully valid EU-wide license.
This is now a priority for the company, and the team is working through the legal groundwork to move as quickly as possible. No firm deadline can be set at this stage, since the final path hasn't yet been confirmed.
Iván also gave the clearest account to date of what actually triggered the CNMV notice: a data request for Spanish investor information that arrived outside the official regulatory channel connecting Switzerland and Spain.
"We consider that to be private, sensitive information... If the Spanish regulatory body had communicated with the body that regulates us in Switzerland, we would have submitted the information. That didn't happen."
And here it's important to be clear about the intent behind that decision:
"We're not looking to make excuses — we're looking to bring solutions to the table."
Block 3: audits — when to expect, and what's already published
Iván shared an opinion that matches the position of the Maclear team as a whole:
"I think it's actually a fair question to ask right now. I'd be asking the same thing if I were investing in a company — what's happening internally. So I see it as a must, something that has to be done, and we're doing it."
We understand this is a reasonable expectation from investors, and we are not trying to avoid the question. The issue was never whether audited reports would be delivered — Maclear set this standard for itself early on by voluntarily publishing its 2023 report, despite no legal obligation to do so, and has continued working to meet that same standard since.
The 2024 full-year financial report was published as well, in its pre-audit form, together with an overview letter from the CFO. That report showed strong underlying growth: loan portfolio up 13x, revenue up 7x, interest income up 126x, and share capital up 1.25x, with all investor payments made in full and on time and no defaults on issued loans.
That 2024 report was published deliberately in its current, pre-audit form. As the team explained at the time:
"The 2024 report is published in its current form intentionally. The audit is still in progress — once it's finalised, we'll publish the updated version. We're not disclosing the auditor's name at this stage to avoid any third-party contact that could disrupt the process... We're publishing now so you can see the numbers as they are — nothing will change once the audit is done."
Iván confirmed that the 2025 accounts, originally planned for July, have been moved to autumn so they can be delivered audited rather than unaudited. On the timeline, the audited 2025 report is expected this autumn, and the 2026 report — since the year itself is nearly over — will follow in the first months of next year.
In the meantime, investors don't have to wait for the audited report to see how the company is doing: Maclear publishes real-time company data on its website, updated monthly, for anyone who wants a closer look. These are the same underlying figures that will ultimately be reflected in the audited reports.
Block 4: influencers, reviews and critics
Antonio raised a topic that companies do not typically address publicly, let alone through an official spokesperson: creators and influencers who have become critical of Maclear, as well as investors who have left the platform after publicly sharing their experience on their own channels.
Iván answered this way:
"We're in a competitive industry, and I think it's normal — some people are going to like what we do, and some people won't."
Every investor's decision deserves respect. If Maclear isn't the right fit for someone, that's a legitimate outcome. We don't see this as a problem — quite the opposite. We respect every investor and the decisions they make. The only thing we ask for is honest feedback that reflects a real experience, not a fabricated one.
"We encourage the audience to tell us where we're getting it wrong, because that's the idea. Without that feedback, we can't do it."
Maclear always values the feedback investors share with us, and we try to remain a flexible company that adapts to what our community is telling us — many of our features and improvements exist precisely because of that feedback. So we thank everyone who takes the time to share it, and we encourage you to keep doing so.
Block 5: what’s next for Maclear
Before wrapping up, Antonio shared his own take on what could push Maclear toward becoming the top platform in the space, based on feedback he regularly hears from his investor community. His recommendations centered on three points:
- Finalizing the audited annual accounts — something he sees as a genuine act of transparency that would go a long way in rebuilding investor confidence.
- Following through on European regulation — moving past the discomfort caused by the CNMV notice and securing a clearer regulatory footing.
- Toning down the intensity of promotional offers — bonuses and interest incentives that, when stacked together, can come across as excessive and raise questions rather than build trust, even when that isn't the intent.
Closing the conversation, Iván laid out where the company's attention is going next: completing the ECSPR application process across all three fronts, delivering the fully independently audited reports, and continuing to scale the loan portfolio while keeping investor protections in place.
He tied it together with a line that set the tone for the whole interview:
"We're not perfect. We're not a gold coin that pleases everyone. But we keep listening, and we keep fixing things as we go."
Closing: Iván's personal reflections on Madrid
First and foremost, Iván thanked Antonio for the invitation. Invant APPs recently launched a new series dedicated to European platforms and financial influencers, and Maclear had the honor of being the series' first guest.
Iván also shared his personal impressions from his first visit to Madrid:
"I left with a very good impression, and it reaffirmed for us how important it is to keep this open dialogue with our audience. I hope we can hold meetings like this much more often going forward, so investors have a direct line to the company and can see that we genuinely want to grow alongside our audience."
"Overall, I really enjoyed how Spain welcomed me — a wonderful atmosphere, wonderful people, and of course, the food."
Full interview episode with Iván Marchena: https://youtu.be/hDprxfqH4lo?si=CaPUYjgVQkGwozBq
Previous interview episode with Iván Marchena (online): https://youtu.be/lGsu_owite8?si=BiRW73bhVTEHHdcQ
Maclear community on Telegram: https://t.me/maclear_channel
Maclear's blog on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/maclear-ag