New York-based Adro, a Fintech in the neobanking sector targeting international students etc., is reporting at $1.5 million pre-Seed funding round. According to a statement from the company, the funding round led by Era, with participation from Ex Nihilo Ventures and the Cornell Tech Syndicate.
As international students typically struggle to establish local banking services in the US, Adro sees an opportunity to address this segment by providing a platform that enables banking services like savings, checking, payments/transfers. The company plans to launch services later this year and states that it will partner with universities and other services to promote its services. Adro states that it will operate in all states and districts in the US at launch.
Adro was founded by Amarildo Gjondrekaj (formerly of Mastercard, Harness), Sara Schmitt (Amazon, Epic) and Kevin DeArmond (Uber, Titan).
Gjondrekaj, CEO of Adro, explains that once in the US, internationals face challenges despite having cash available.
“It can take weeks to open the accounts they need, like getting a debit card and credit card. This makes it that much harder to find an apartment, rent a car and pay for living expenses. We’re giving students the financial tools they need to get settled in, and making it accessible the moment they get off the plane.”
Adro said it will use the funding to scale its engineering team and accelerate the development of the platform.
