UK-based financial technology company Smart has secured USD 95 million in the latest round of funding led by Aquiline , a private investment firm. The latest round of funding brought investments from Aquiline, Chrysalis Investments, Barclays, DWS, and Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, among others.

This new injection of funding marks a continuous ascending trend in the company’s growth. In 2022 alone, Smart had a 65% increase in its revenue from the previous year. Following this round of founding, the company’s Assets Under Management (AUM), which are currently resting at USD 6,8 billion, are predicted to exceed USD 12,5 billion.

Earlier this year, according to the Financial Times, Smart was one of Europe’s top companies experiencing high growth rates. The constant growth of the organisation has been linked to the demand for modern retirement savings platforms. Plans for the usage of the funding According to the press release, Smart plans on using the newly received funding to enhance its strategies and efforts toward global expansion.

At the moment, the company has already expanded beyond Europe in the US, the Middle East, and Asia. What is more, part of the funding is said to be spent towards the investment in Keystone, Smart’s retirement savings technology platform. Keystone is a Platform as a Service (PaaS), or a cloud-based platform for workplace retirement savings that was built to help users plan for and manage their retirement savings.

Fintech and the retirement savings sector As also stated in Smart’s press release, as governments are facing difficulties with managing their debt and budget deficits, regulations now require individuals to take responsibility for saving for retirement through workplace-based mechanisms. This shift is particularly noteworthy as the world’s population aged 60 years and older is gradually increasing. Given the situation, the interest in developing digital tools that can assist people when planning for their retirement is growing.

Data-driven fintech tools can bring significant benefits to users as they can optimise the process of saving for retirement and the management of funds. For instance, new fintech tools can enable future retirees to utilise automatic deposits, apps, or AI technology to automatise their saving process and monitor the progress of their retirement funds. Moreover, people struggling to grasp financial concepts can utilise robo-advisors that use complex algorithms to get a better grasp of the information at hand.

Similarly, AI-assisted visualisation tools can help users gain a clear understanding of their financial goals, and AI-assisted tools can be used for efficient record-keeping. .