WealthTech company Smarterly has bagged £7m in a new funding round to strengthen the development of its platform that enables people to save and invest directly through payroll.
Major Oak, the family office, led the Series A round and invested £5m. The other £2m was injected into Smarterly from existing angel and crowdfunding investors. Some of the investment was used to complete the recent acquisition of Salvus. The rest of the funding will be used to further develop Smarterly’s product proposition and allow further growth in the market.
The round comes after Smarterly raised £2m through a second crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs in 2019. The first had occured a year prior and saw the company add £1.6m to its coffers.
Founded in 2017, Smarterly claims to be the first workplace savings provider to introduce a Lifetime ISA through payroll deduction, helping clients to engage younger employees with their immediate financial needs. Employees can save as little as £10 a month, breaking down affordability barriers that exist with certain investment. Smarterly now has over 80,000 customers with £230m assets under management and works with over 100 businesses including many of the UK’s largest employers.
“Smarterly is changing the face of workplace savings, particularly as we move into unchartered territory of the working world post-COVID-19,” said Phil Hollingdale, co-founder of Smarterly. “Financial wellbeing is no longer one dimensional, it’s about supporting employees throughout their entire life journey.”
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