Pockit, a digital banking app designed to cater to the underbanked masses, has announced a new partnership with Railsbank while simultaneously announcing a £15 million Series B funding paired with an offering on Crowdcube.

The Crowdcube securities offer is for £500,000 Future Fund convertible note with an 8% interest payment. The offering will convert at a 20% discount to a future funding round. The money raised will be matched by the Future Fund, the funding scheme designed by the UK government and delivered by the British Business Bank.

Last month Pocket migrated its payment services and functions that underpin the Pockit accounts and operations to PayrNet Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Railsbank.

Virraj Jatania CEO & Founder of Pockit, said that launching a crowdfunding offering has been an ambition for his company for some time:

“Since its launch Pockit has helped over half a million customers to take control of their financial affairs, many of whom never previously had a current account that let them shop online or make contactless payments. The time to accelerate is right now; the COVID recession and the end of furlough schemes will disproportionately affect the financially underserved. Some 12 million people in the UK need a solution urgently, and we believe Pockit is that solution.”

Jatania views the crowdfunding round as a way to allow their loyal customers to own a piece of the Fintech and participate in its growth.

Since the Fintech’s inception, Pockit has raised a total of £27 million in funding and is backed by well known investors who previously have supported the successful growth of, among others, Spotify, Bolt, Funding Circle, Houst and Wheely.

Pockit has posted a page on its website explaining the securities offering hosted on Crowdcube. The investment limit starts at £10 with no upper limit. Pockit reports over 500,000 users that have completed more than £1 billion in transactions.

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