Kroo exceeds £1M crowdfunding target with investments made on average every minute

Digital bank Kroo reached its crowdfunding target of £1M in just a few hours yesterday, as it gears up to open crowdfunding to the public. Kroo kicked off its crowdfunding with the ambition to build a community of people who want to see banking change for the better. Thanks to over 1,400 people from 60 countries investing, on average £1,329 every minute, this ambition continues to be exceeded.

Crowned one of Europe’s top ten fastest-growing Fintechs of 2023 by Sifted, Kroo’s crowdfunding round gives investors the opportunity to own a slice of the growing bank. Early access to the crowdfunding round opened to customers on 1 November and received interest from 7,150 people who pledged a total of £9.5M.

Shares were offered at £2.04 a piece for 0.83% in equity of the UK-based bank valued at £120M. Investment starts at £10 and is managed by Crowdcube. With £72M raised to date from private investors, the limited shares offered through crowdfunding are at the same price as offered in the current B+ round, which has so far raised £14.5M.

Andrea De Gottardo, CEO of Kroo, says: “We’re thrilled to have reached and exceeded our crowdfunding target. It’s amazing to see so much support for the journey we’re on. The success so far shows us there is a real appetite from our community to change banking for good.

Banks make decisions that impact all our lives, but we have no say in how they are run. Kroo wants to change that. Our approach to banking promises no more teaser deals or ‘hidden’ terms and conditions, just fair and transparent banking that is rewarding all the time. Our goal is to reach the maximum crowdfunding investment in the UK to continue to take on bigger banks.

The crowdfunding round helps us create a powerful movement to change banking for good. We’re putting the power and money into our customers’ hands – since our launch in December, we are proud that our customers have earned £15.6M in interest.”

Nazim Valimahomed, Co-Founder and Chief Product and Design Officer at Kroo, says:  “I founded Kroo with a simple goal to be the first bank customers trust and love. Our customer-obsessed approach is a stark contrast specifically to the high street, who are paying as little as they can in interest whilst delivering record-breaking profits themselves. The appetite for investing in Kroo shows people are tired of the profit extraction model of old.

Our business model is simple. We plan to acquire customers at a low cost of £38 and drive revenue from transaction fees and the net interest margin on deposits and loans. We aim to deliver profits faster than any new UK bank with a current account, and we are excited about having a series of new investors, many of whom are our customers.”

Launched in December 2022 on a 2&2 model of 2% in interest directly back into your current account and two trees planted for each new customer, Kroo has now opened 145k current accounts and aims to plant 1 million trees by the end of 2024.

After raising rates five times since its 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. With £765M in customer deposits to date, customers have earned a whopping £15.6M on their current accounts since December.

Kroo is rated excellent on Trustpilot and 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.