Startup Smart Pension Ltd. has raised $95 million in a later-stage funding round to grow the adoption of its pension management platform, which is used by more than 1 million people worldwide.

Private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners led the Series E investment, which Smart announced today. Chrysalis Investments, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, DWS, Barclays and Natixis Investment Managers participated as well. The round brings the startup’s total outside funding to $391 million.

Founded in 2014, Smart offers a software platform geared toward governments, banks and other organizations that operate pension funds. The startup’s platform provides an interface through which consumers can interact with their savings. The software also makes it easier for businesses to create and manage employee retirement plans.

Using Smart’s platform, a pension fund operator such as a bank can make account information available to savers through a web portal or mobile app. For added measure, the startup also provides a chatbot. Consumers can request information about their accounts using natural language commands.

Smart’s platform also offers a number of other features. In addition to checking account information, consumers can update how their savings are managed on a self-service basis. Users in the U.K. have access to discounts from major retailers. 

For businesses, Smart promises to reduce the amount of work involved in managing employee pension plans. The startup’s platform can collect the payroll data necessary for a pension plan from a company’s internal systems through an application programming interface. Smart also offers the ability to upload data in the form of spreadsheets and provides a tool for sharing records with a company’s financial advisor.

According to the startup, some of the applications used to manage retirement funds were developed decades ago. As a result, certain business tasks can take hours to complete. Smart says its platform provides faster performance and thereby improves the user experience. 

The startup disclosed today that its revenue reached 67 million pounds, or about $84 million, in 2022 after growing 65% year-over-year. Smart currently has more than 5.5 billion pounds in assets under management. The startup expects that number to reach 10.5 billion pounds by July. 

“This is a $62 trillion global sector in the early stages of being disrupted, and we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of that,” said Smart co-founders Andrew Evans and Will Wynne. “We have already reached scale and profitability in the U.K., 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.”

Smart intends to make multiple acquisitions in the “near term” to support its growth plan. Previously, the startup reportedly acquired two pension fund operators last year. Smart will also use a part of its newly closed round to develop new features for its platform. 

Image: Smart