Partner Article

This auto-enrolment startup has raised millions just three years after launch

London-based Smart Pension, which helps small businesses comply with new pensions legislation, is expected to announce the closure of its £15m Series B round today (Monday) with a major contribution from Norwegian fund managers the Stensrud family.

The startup, which was co-founded just three years ago by the former head of Lloyds Banking Group’s wealth unit Andrew Evans, has already been backed previously by Legal & General.

This latest round will bring funding in the business to £25m and reportedly values Smart Pension at £65m with big names already piling in for a slice of the FinTech firm.

It comes as small businesses scramble to meet government rules on pension auto-enrolment with many struggling to meet the final deadline of 2018 to get all staff aged over 22 and earning over £10,000 enrolled on pensions schemes.

According to Smart Pension, it is signing up new businesses at a rate of one every seven minutes with fees that undercut the government’s own Nest scheme.

In comments reported by Sky News, Chief Executive Andrew Evans, said: “Like the government provider, Nest, we 100% guarantee to accept all employers and employees.

“We, however, differ hugely on funding. Nest recently reported it has spent nearly £600m to date and that it is currently forecast to cost the taxpayer over £1.2bn.”

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