UK-based digital bank Kroo announces the start of a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube

A young digital bank headquartered in the UK known as Kroo recently announced the start of a crowdfunding campaign, taking place on a platform called Crowdcube.

Kroo has only had a full banking license in the UK for a year, receiving it in 2022. However, after achieving it, it did not waste any time in expanding its customer base. The challenger bank has already opened over 145,000 accounts, and it reached around 765 million GBP in deposits, growing faster than any other new bank of this kind.

Crowdfunding campaign will open to the public in two weeks

Previously, the bank managed to raise around 72 million GBP, but in September 2023, it announced to the public that it intends to launch another round, seeking to raise another £70 million in order to expand its service and finance further growth.

Now, the self-described “socially conscious” digital bank invites investors to join its new crowdfunding campaign, stating that customers can invest anything from £10 to £500,000 on the Crowdcube platform. The crowdfunding round is currently not open to the wider public, but it will be soon. According to the bank, this will happen on November 15, so anyone interested in participating has around two weeks to prepare.

The bank’s major selling point comes from its promise not to profit from high interest rates. Instead, it intends to pass on the benefits that other banks usually enjoy to its customers in order to reward their support.

Changing the way banking works

After raising rates as many as five times since launch, the bank released its tracker interest rate, set 0.9% lower than the base rate of the Bank of England. The startup bank’s CEO, Andrea De Gottardo, commented on the new development stating: “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.”

She added that the crowdfunding round will help the bank create a powerful movement that has the goal of permanently changing the way banking works. The bank’s CEO said that the bank and its team are aware of how big of an undertaking this will be and that it will not be easy. Even so, the bank is excited to try out this new approach and build a community of like-minded conscious consumers who share its ideas and vision.

The bank’s approach, while quite different from what its peers are doing, seemingly attracted the interest of many, given its rapid growth over the past year. However, the true level of support that the company currently enjoys will be seen once the crowdfunding campaign becomes open to the public.