We met Kickfurther representatives at Expo East We met Kickfurther representatives at the Expo East Gourmet Food Show about a month ago. We manufacture and sell high end sea salt with a variety of blends and infusions. We were able to receive funding at very reasonable terms for much needed inventory purchases for the holiday season. There consignment formula is a great way to grow your business compared to traditional bank and finance companies. The process goes very smoothly with a Kickfurther representative that helps to at each step. We are looking forward to working with Kickfurther on many more co-ops.

Great when it's good; terrible when it's bad. I've been investing with Kickfurther for several years. When co-ops are successful, it works well, and I would highly recommend it. Unfortunately, all too often co-ops fail, and it's then that I'm really disappointed with the KF process. When things go to collections, a tiny fraction - if anything - is ever recouped. Of course it's an investment, and there's a certain level of risk. However, I do not feel that KF does enough to support buyers when things go wrong. I have never heard of their legal team getting involved although co-ops often have a personal guarantee, and it seems like the case should be litigated. I've definitely made money through KF, but I've also lost more than I care to admit. Bottom line: proceed with caution.

100% loss of funds if companies don't pay. First few investments were great; dump some cash, wait a few months, pocket the interest, rinse & repeat. Except when some Kickfurthers paid zero - nothing - and then the final payment date passes. Your investment cycle is broken, your cash in limbo for who knows how long (if you're even getting it back). There are mechanisms for Kickfurther to cancel co-ops and obtain merchandise (if the merchant responds). There are mechanisms to settle for lower repayments (if the investors agree). There are also many many many ways a company that took a loan from Kickfurther can effectively ignore them while still raking in sales. Kickfurther doesn't send debt collectors, file lawsuits, seize collateral. The burden falls onto you, the investor, to sit it out and plead for the company to repay.

Solid platform for individuals and small funds The platform has grown quite a bit since early days. Deal quality has improved tremendously, albeit volume is still rather low. The stricter underwriting standards are paying off. Reporting infrastructure is still not there, but the team is capable, and with that piece in place next year this will be an even more robust and useful investment opportunity.

INVESTORS SHOULD STAY AWAY INVESTORS SHOULD STAY AWAY If you're thinking about investing with Kickfurther, don't. While the co-ops seem to have a number of protections such as personal guarantees, UC filings, etc, in practice, none of these are ever used. Kickfurther instead hides behind co-ops failing to meet a vote of "no confidence" by the co-op lenders to take no action against any of the companies that have failed to payback lenders. On it's face, this seems democratic but Kickfurther doesn't take into account lenders abstaining from a vote and since most lenders aren't actively participating on the platform NO VOTE CAN EVER GET OVER 50%. What Kickfurther should do, is look at what percentage of people that voted on an action were in favor or against (aka how any other vote in politics, the boardroom, etc works).