UK “social banking” start-up Kroo has raised £17.7 million in a Series A funding round.

Kroo, which is still in the process of securing a banking license, said the capital will be used to “mobilise” and grow its team ahead of its launch in 2022.

This will include making new hires in its engineering, marketing, product, compliance, and customer departments, and further developing its product offering and app.

Kroo, founded in 2019, currently offers a prepaid debit card and an app that allows users to track their finances.

The start-up has promised it will donate a percentage of its profits to social causes and said that it has launched a tree-planting referral scheme.

Kroll also said it has built its own microservices-based and cloud-native technology platform.

“We want to build the world’s greatest social bank: a bank dedicated to its customers and to the world we live in,” said founder and chief executive at Kroo Andrea de Gottardo. “We’re going to do more than just work with Kroo customers to improve their relationship with money and provide them with access to fair loans.”

He added: “We’re going to offer them ways to actively take part in making our world a better place, like carbon offsetting and a tree-planting referral programme.”

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