Adro, a New York fintech that aims to help international students access U.S. financial services, has raised $1.5 million pre-seed funding.
The company said in a press release that the round was led by Era, with participation from Ex Nihilo Ventures and the Cornell Tech Syndicate. Adro said it will use the funds to add to its engineering team and accelerate its platform’s development.
“Once in the U.S., internationals face significant barriers to starting their lives in a new country, despite having cash available,” Amarildo Gjondrekaj, the company’s CEO, said in the release.
“It can take weeks to open the accounts they need, like getting a debit card and credit card,” he added. “This makes it that much harder to find an apartment, rent a car and pay for living expenses.”
Adro, which plans to launch later this year, will offer checking and savings accounts, as well as debit and credit cards. It will also provide partial reimbursement for costs tied to international money transfers.