Republic Europe review
6
(our review)
Republic Europe is an equity crowdfunding platform, formerly known as Seedrs.com. In our latest review, we rated it 6 out of 10. There are interesting campaigns, but company information and forecasts often come directly from the businesses themselves. They are usually very optimistic, which makes the risk of losing your investment high.
Please note: Investing in (shares of) startups involves risks. You may lose (part of) your investment.
Content:
What characterizes Republic?
Republic Europe is an equity crowdfunding platform where small and medium-sized companies can raise money by selling shares.
These shares are tradable on a secondary market, but usually only at a large discount. To make a real profit, you will have to wait for an exit like a takeover or IPO. Only a few companies on the platform reach that finish line, so there is a high chance that you will lose your investment.
In Europe, it became well-known after the acquisition of Seedrs.com by the end of 2021. At the time, this was an English platform that often featured campaigns from other European countries. In 2024, the name was changed to Republic Europe.
Investors often compare Republic Europe to Crowdcube or Invesdor.
It became well-known after the acquisition of Seedrs.com
Offer: shares of startups and scaleups
Republic Europe features equity crowdfunding campaigns, with a focus on the United Kingdom. However, it also has campaigns from continental Europe. The range of campaigns on offer is wide. Equity campaigns are risky: if you invest, there is a high chance that you will never see your investment again.
The startups on the platform offer little to no certainties. The campaign information is usually more of a marketing pitch than a serious financial projection. This makes it difficult to assess them yourself. This is very necessary, as there are large differences between the campaigns.
According to the platform, it has more than 30 ‘Unicorns’ in its portfolio already. Every year, we see campaigns on the platform that are worth investing in, but with a financial capital of more than 3 billion (mid-2025), the chance of investing in the newest unicorn is statistically very small.
Before launching campaigns on the platform, Republic Europe does perform a screening. However, that screening is limited. The platform does share financial figures, but these are often estimates provided by the companies themselves. Republic Europe also states that these figures are not a reliable indication of future performances of your investment.
Diversification and the Auto Invest feature
There is an Auto Invest feature, and with several filters you can set up your preferences. It allows you to automatically spread your investment, creating more diversification. While creating a diversified portfolio is smart, with some campaigns the chance of return is too small. It is wiser to manually select campaigns to invest in.
Of course, there are also campaigns where you will receive returns on your investment. If you know how to carefully select these campaigns, it can be an interesting platform to make money.
Sometimes, the platform gives you the opportunity to talk to the companies looking for funding, for example via video meetings. It is also possible to request more information through a private section on your own. By doing this, it is possible to find interesting campaigns. You just need to know what information you need an can assess it properly.
We would advise private investors with limited experience not to invest on this platform.
Tradability and secondary market
Republic Europe has a secondary market. This means that you can offer up the shares that you have invested in for sale, to other users. You can set the price at which you want to sell them manually. However, you should know that interest in the secondary market is limited.
Even if you offer your shares at a substantial discount, there is a chance that you will not be able to sell them. Also, not all company shares are eligible for the secondary market. Companies that are in talks with an investor or have similar processes underway are often excluded. These types of processes can sometimes take a long time (a year or more), and during that time you cannot trade the shares (on the platform).
Usability
Creating an account is easy. It is clear that the platform was originally set up for English investors, evident from English tax benefits. There are multiple ways to transfer money to the platform, like credit card or bank transfer.
It is also easy to invest in a campaign, but finding the right campaign is difficult. More often than not, projections for startups are not accurate. Furthermore, each company shares information about different aspects, making comparison virtually impossible.
If you are new to investing, you can be easily impressed by the information and figures that companies share on Republic Europe . This is also due to how the platform is structured. For example, it shares recent highlights and projections and sometimes it is difficult to verify them. It is also tempting to be guided by the investments of other users. You can see how many people are already investing in a campaign, and how much money has already been raised. But it is not always clear why these people are investing in specifically that campaign.
Pricing (purchase and sales fees)
When you are buying shares by investing in a campaign, Republic Europe charges an fee of 2.5 percent. It does not charge any subscription fees. If you sell your shares, the platform charges a transaction fee of 2 percent and a carry fee. This is a percentage of your profit. It does not take into account the purchase and transaction costs.
Yields at Republic Europe
Generating a return on investment on Republic Europe’s platform is very uncertain. There is a high probability that you will lose money on an investment. Whether you earn money depends on which campaigns you choose. Usually, investing in startups and scaleups can take several years to yield a return.
As Seedrs.com, the platform offered around a thousand investment opportunities in about twelve years. Out of all these, 29 were sold and 8 ended up listed on a stock exchange. The platform presents this scenario widely as a possible outcome of your investment. However, the chances of it happening are very small.
In many cases, you will only see a return on your investment after a capital venture firm makes an investment in the company. Another scenario is a takeover from a competitor, or an IPO. It can take a startup many years to reach that point. During that period, you will not earn a return. There are a few success stories of companies that have become worth billions, with shareholders realizing returns of hundreds of percent after a few years. But this percentage is small.
More than 200 of the thousand companies, that have been featured on the platform, no longer exist. If you had invested in one of them, your investment would probably have been lost. The remaining three-quarters of the companies are still active and waiting for an exit. These may have increased in value, but there is also a large group of companies whose plans have not been successful. Even though they are still active, their valuation may be significantly lower now than projected.
Example of an investment in Bux via Republic Europe.
Safety and reliability of the platform
Republic Europe is one of the largest equity crowdfunding platforms in Europe. It is an American company, with a branch in the United Kingdom. Because of that, it does not require a European crowdfunding license (ECSP). For many years, it has been a leading platform in the United Kingdom, indicating its reliability.
Review score: 6
In our last review, Republic Europe scored a 6 out of 10. We are regularly active on the platform, but it is certainly not one of our preferred platforms for investments. We consider the wide range of options as a plus. However, at the same time, this is also a problem, as we find only a small percentage of them worth investing in.
This means that you need to select your campaigns carefully, which is quite difficult. In many campaigns, the financial information seems to have been made up by the marketing department instead of being verified financial projects. If you have experience with investing in startups, it can be an interesting platform with interesting campaigns. For investors with less experience, we recommend platforms that perform stricter screenings.
