Chrysalis Investments has ploughed £75m into retirement savings platform Smart Pension.
The £1.1bn investment trust led the fintech firm’s £165m series D funding round, which included £110m worth of newly issued primary capital and £55m from existing shareholders.
Smart intends to use the investment from Chrysalis and other new backers to expand its retirement technology platform across the UK, US, Australia and the Middle East, as well as to push into new markets.
Founded by Andrew Evans and Will Wynne in 2014, assets across the platform have shot up by 160% over the last year, with the fintech firm now looking after £1.8bn for close to one million savers.
It currently counts Legal & General, JP Morgan, the Link Group, Barclays and Natixis Investment Managers among its strategic investors.
Chrysalis managers Richard Watts (pictured left) and Nick Williamson (pictured right) hailed Smart as an industry disruptor similar to existing holdings like Swedish buy now pay later firm Klarna and money transfer app Wise.
They said: “The world has changed. Just as companies like Wise and Klarna add huge benefits to their users via best-in-class financial technology, Smart offers user experience and technology to transform retirement for savers around the world. What Smart has achieved in the last 12 months alone was a real catalyst for our support, and we believe that together we can help Andrew and Will achieve their global ambitions.”
Earlier this month one of Chrysalis’ largest holdings Wise announced plans to IPO on the London Stock Exchange in July.
The trust has already seen a “material uplift” to NAV this year from holding Starling Bank which was valued at £1.3bn after its last funding round.
See also: Chrysalis and Scottish Mortgage set for boost as Wise preps for £9bn IPO
