London-headquartered pensions FinTech Smart has just closed its 听拢76m ($95m) Series E funding round.
The round was led by Aquiline Capital Partners, a private investment firm based in New York and London with backing from existing investors Chrysalis Investments, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, DWS, Barclays and Natixis Investment Managers.
The round followed a 拢165m听 Series D fund raise in 2021.听
Established in 2014 by Andrew Evans and Will Wynne in the wake of the UK鈥檚 roll out of mandatory workplace pension auto enrolment, Smart owns and operates one of 鈥榯he big four鈥� UK auto enrolment master trusts, Smart Pension, serving more than one million savers and 70,000 employers.
Evans and Wynne said: 鈥淭his investment is strong recognition of Smart鈥檚 success and journey to date, and highlights the immense opportunity that lies ahead.听It is also a resounding vote of confidence in the UK鈥檚 FinTech sector, and its leadership in financial services provision.
鈥淲e are on a mission to transform retirement, savings and financial wellbeing. We are the global leader in retirement technology and our industry-leading platform, Keystone, is being deployed by the biggest, most successful financial institutions around the world.
鈥淭his is a $62 trillion global sector in the early stages of being disrupted, and we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of that. We have already reached scale and profitability in the UK, with Smart Pension now serving in excess of one million savers, and this backing allows us to achieve that scale and profitability in our global markets across the group. We welcome Aquiline to our board and we鈥檙e incredibly excited for the years ahead.
Aquiline Capital CEO Jeff Greenberg said: “We have every confidence that Smart is a multi-billion pound company in the making.
鈥淭he UK remains at the forefront in the digitalisation and democratisation of retirement savings and we are excited to support a UK leader in the sector as it helps to solve pressing issues facing savers, financial institutions and governments across the world.鈥�
Smart continues to strengthen its board of directors, with Charles Janeway of Aquiline joining as non-executive director.
Lazard acted as financial adviser to Smart in relation to the Series E funding round. Perella Weinberg acted as financial adviser to Aquiline.
Funds from this investment round will bolster Smart鈥檚 global expansion plans, building on the company鈥檚 strong performance in Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia.
Proceeds from the funding round will also help finance acquisitions and accelerate Smart鈥檚 investment in and distribution of its proprietary retirement savings technology platform, Keystone.
Smart launched Keystone in 2015 to help governments and financial institutions deliver retirement savings and income solutions that are digital, bespoke and cost efficient.
In addition to the UK, Smart is operating in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia, with more than a million savers entrusting over 拢5 billion in assets on its Keystone platform.
Smart has experienced a period of exceptional growth, with group revenue of 拢67m in 2022, a 65 per cent increase on the previous year. In February 2023, Smart was ranked among Europe鈥檚 fastest-growing companies by the Financial Times.
Smart today already has over 拢5.5 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) on its platform and is expected to exceed 拢10bn by the end of June 2023 following this Series E funding.
Growth has been driven by the accelerating global demand for modern, digital retirement savings technology, the success of Smart Pension in the UK and strategic M&A.