Kroo announces early access to its crowdfunding as it invites the public to join the movement to change banking

Socially conscious bank Kroo launches a round of crowdfunding in partnership with Crowdcube. Since securing its full UK banking licence in 2022, Kroo has opened 145,000 accounts, and grown faster than any other new bank with £765m in deposits. The funding round gives customers the opportunity to join Kroo in its journey to change banking for good, putting money and power back into customers’ hands and becoming the first bank people trust and love.

In a market with 97m current accounts and £270bn in deposits earning no interest, customers want to see change.[2] In July, the UK’s four biggest banks reported record profits of £28.93bn for the first six months of the year.[1] These figures were buoyed by high interest rates, at a time when the cost of living crisis continued to squeeze customers.

Rather than profiting from high interest rates, Kroo is committed to passing on interest to customers. After raising rates five times since launch, the digital bank released its ‘tracker’ interest rate set 0.9% below the Bank of England’s base rate, giving customers the peace of mind that they are always receiving a strong, transparent offer.

As the highest-rated bank with a current account in the UK Trustpilot, Kroo has quickly earned a reputation as a bank with customer service and products that have people’s backs. In February, Martin Lewis labelled it as ‘the best, open to all, easy access savings with unlimited withdrawals we’ve seen since 2012’ on his primetime money show. Kroo was also named one of Sifted’s top 10 fastest-growing fintechs in Europe.

Andrea De Gottardo, CEO of Kroo, says: “Kroo doesn’t just want to acquire customers. We want to build a community that believes banking can be done better. We want to simplify banking with no more teaser deals, no more ‘hidden’ terms and conditions, just fair and transparent banking that is rewarding all the time. Kroo wants to put the power, as well as money, into customers’ hands.

“Banks are guilty of prioritising profits over customers. They make decisions that impact all our lives, but we have no say in how they are run. Kroo wants to change that. By inviting our growing customer base to be investors, they will have a say in how we run the bank – from our services to our products. This crowdfunding round will help us create a powerful movement to change banking for good. We know this won’t be easy, so we are excited to build a community of like-minded conscious consumers alongside us.”

Nazim Valimahomed, Co-Founder and Chief Product and Design Officer at Kroo, says: “As a tech-driven, customer-first bank, Kroo wants to radically simplify how our customers manage their finances. Our account puts money back in their pockets, not in bank profits, leaving them emotionally and financially better off.

We’ve built a team committed to earning the trust of our customers while scaling our offer at pace. With £72m raised from private investors including £14.5m in our B+ round, this crowdfunding round widens the investment opportunity for our customers. Since launch, we’ve opened 145k current accounts and acquired £765m in deposits with an average acquisition cost of £31 over the last 6 months. Given these early results, we aim to deliver profits faster than any new UK bank with a current account.”

Supporters can invest from £10 to £500,000. The low threshold for investing is designed to ensure as many Kroo customers can be part of the community Kroo is building to change banking for the better.