All investments carry varying degrees of risk, and investing in early-stage and growth-focused businesses is no different. The main risk associated with investing on Republic Europe is that the business may simply fail, and investors won't get their money back. Illiquidity is another consideration because, even if the business succeeds, investors are unlikely to receive dividends or be able to sell their shares for a number of years. 

There is also a risk of dilution: if a business requires further capital in the future (a highly likely scenario), and issues more shares in exchange for that capital, the percentage of equity held by earlier investors will decrease. Please take a look at our Risk Warning for more information.