Investment Platforms

InSoil review

8

(our review)

InSoil is an international business lending platform focused on financing agricultural businesses, with average returns ranging from 12 to 14 percent. In our latest review, InSoil scores an 8 out of 10. Campaigns fund working capital, equipment, or CO₂ storage.

Content:

Note: Investing online through InSoil involves risks, and you may lose part or all of your investment.

What defines InSoil?

InSoil review (HeavyFinance)InSoil is a European crowdfunding platform that offers investment opportunities in agricultural loans, financing farmers for working capital, equipment, or CO₂ storage. Founded in Lithuania, it operates across multiple European countries.

Loans are asset-backed, often by machinery or land. Since its 2020 launch, the platform has provided average returns of 12 to 14 percent. In 2025 the platform changed its name from HeavyFinance to InSoil.

The platform is most often compared to LANDE, Mintos and Peerberry.

Invest via Mintos, Europe’s P2P leader with 11.62% average return, or Freedom24 for top-rated bonds (B+) with 6% yield, starting at 1000 euro. Investing involves risks. You can lose your investment.

Account registration HeavyFinance

Creating an account and transferring funds

Creating an account on InSoil is simple, as it requires only an email. Verification involves taking a photo of your ID and a selfie. You will also need to answer a few questions about your profile, job, and investment knowledge. These questions are fairly standard and partly required by regulators.

Most platforms ask similar things to ensure you understand crowdfunding risks. Once you are verified, you can transfer funds to the platform via a bank transfer to a French IBAN with LemonWay, which securely processes payments. Unfortunately, it does not support other payment methods, such as credit cards.

Tip: Add a payout account as well. InSoil charges an inactivity fee of 10 euros if you don’t log in for over a month and the platform cannot process payouts (because no payout account is linked).

Registration and Verification Complete

Offer: agricultural projects in Eastern Europe

On InSoil, you invest in agricultural businesses that offer land or equipment as collateral. The platform operates in various European countries, including Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, and Bulgaria. Because of that, it has a substantial volume of campaigns despite being relatively new.

Campaigns range from working capital and inventory financing to land and equipment purchases. They vary in risk, so it is advisable to diversify your investments across multiple campaigns.

Green loans for CO₂ storage

InSoil aims to be a sustainable platform with a mission to remove 1 gigaton of CO₂ by 2050. Besides regular campaigns, it offers Green Loans, supporting farmers transitioning to sustainable practices (like regenerative agriculture). Analysis from Investmentplatforms.eu indicates that most campaigns focus on CO₂ storage.

Storing CO₂ in soil generates carbon credits, which farmers can sell to companies aiming for climate targets. Green Loans offer no fixed interest, but investors share in the profits when these credits are sold.

In October 2024, the platform received a 10.5 million euros guarantee from the European Investment Fund (EIF), which enables more favorable financing terms for agricultural businesses and reduces risks for investors.

Crowdfunding Project Offerings

InSoil vs. LANDE

InSoil is often compared to LANDE. Both are based in the Baltics and offer collateral-backed agricultural loans. Many investors use both platforms to diversify across a wider range of campaigns.

However, some differences do exist. According to us, InSoil often offers higher interest rates, though it also has a higher rate of loans with issues, especially outside the Baltics. Still, many investors achieve higher returns due to the increased interest rates.

While LANDE primarily operates in Romania, InSoil is more active in Poland, Bulgaria, and Portugal. InSoil also offers a broader range of types of campaigns, including CO₂ storage or reduction. Unlike LANDE, which only offers land-backed loans, InSoil also accepts machinery as collateral.
InSoil returns

Usability

To log in, you need to enter a code from a text message. Unfortunately, InSoil does not support Apple’s own biometric recognition for two-step verification. The platform also logs us out quite quickly when we are inactive, and sometimes the text message function does not work when logging in again.

Once you are logged in, the platform works quickly and easily on both desktop and mobile. In our mobile test with an iPhone, using the browser because InSoil does not have its own app yet, the dashboard even seemed slightly easier to use than on a laptop.

Project information

InSoil provides detailed project information, including borrowing history, previous years’ revenue, and asset details (such as land or machinery). Additionally, the platform assigns a credit score and offers company background information, allowing investors to conduct their own due diligence. Overall, the information provided is comprehensive.

Occasional 2FA issues

Unfortunately, InSoil does not use Apple’s biometric recognition for two-factor authentication. It can sometimes be inconvenient to enter SMS-codes manually. In our tests, these codes did not always arrive promptly, especially after consecutive login attempts. If you do not receive an SMS, there is no option to resend it. This means that you might have to wait a while until you can login.

Auto-Invest and secondary market

InSoil offers an Auto-Invest feature for investors who want to diversify automatically. You can specify which project types to consider. Additionally, it provides a secondary market for early exits.

Auto-Invest and Secondary Market

Returns of 12-14 percent

While we have been investing on the platform for some time, Investmentplatforms.eu does not yet have enough data to fully assess returns on InSoil. The platform itself reports returns of around 13 percent, though this is a gross figure.

This average assumes all loans complete their terms. InSoil’s latest report shows 75.9 percent of loans are repaid on time, meaning 24.1 percent experience delays. However, higher interest rates often offset this, and we expect returns above 10 percent with a well-diversified portfolio.

Delays and Defaults
Status as of September 2024

Reliability and security

InSoil offers a reliable platform with a strong background in agricultural finance. It was founded by Laimonas Noreika in 2020. He brings extensive fintech experience and focuses on agricultural innovations to reduce CO₂ emissions.

InSoil complies with EU regulations through an ECSP license. Although young and rapidly growing, we find it a stable platform. Investor funds are held with BNP Paribas, keeping them separate from company finances.

Collateral coverage

Many projects are backed by collateral like machinery, land, or European guarantees. While this reduces risk, agricultural circumstances (e.g., weather or price volatility) can still impact repayments. Such risks can also affect collateral reliability.

Many InSoil projects carry higher risk, even with collateral. If issues arise due to regional or sector instability, collateral may lose value.

HeavyFinance Statistics

Review score: 8

In our latest review, InSoil scores an 8. Registration was simple, and the dashboard is user-friendly. We did not find a mobile app, but the platform works well on mobile, laptop, and desktop browsers. It presents itself as a sustainable platform aiming to address the CO₂ problem, though we see the Green Loans as a more interesting revenue model. The returns are often higher than the regular loans, and the volume is too limited to drive the platform’s focus.

The platform is often compared with LANDE. We have used both, as well as regular crowdfunding platforms. InSoil is an interesting platform for investors. It offers a substantial campaign volume and leads in the agricultural sector. Campaigns come with a lot of information and interest rates are strong.

The platform has more delays and defaults than expected for agriculture, but with good diversification, returns still exceed 10 percent easily.

Dirkjan

Dirkjan

Owner of Eurolutions and actively involved as a business angel and investor in real estate, stocks, and crowdfunding projects.

All articles by Dirkjan