Investment Services Smarterly Returns to Equity Crowdfunding Platform Seedrs; Now Seeking £2 Million in Funding

Less than a year after securing £1,638,150 through its previous Seedrs campaign, UK-based investment services Smarterly has returned to the equity crowdfunding platform to raise £2 million in funding. The company is now offering 10.68% in equity at a £16,723,855 pre-money valuation. As previously reported, Smarterly stated it aims to turn the UK into a nation of investors, by promoting the benefits of healthy savings habits through employers.

“We make investing simple, easy and accessible for the mass market – aiming to make buying a Smarterly ISA just as easy as buying a product from Amazon. Employers promote Smarterly as an employee benefit, to help their staff build healthy saving habits with the convenience of saving directly from their pay, often with a contribution boost from the employer as a more accessible complement to pensions.”

Smarterly noted that it now has over 50 corporate clients (e.g. Morgan Stanley, Samsung, OVO Energy, Rolls Royce Engineering) with access to an estimated 100,000+ employees. The company currently has a pipeline of another 150 organizations who between them we estimate employ over 1m people.

Speaking about what the funds from this new Seedrs initiative will be used for, the Smarterly team stated:

“We’ve spent the last year building our team, investing in sales, marketing and product enhancements. We’re now 16 employees plus NEDs & Advisers. We’ve got a great team with extensive business and sector experience. We think big but act small, keeping tight control over cashflow and being agile in order to seize opportunities. We expect this funding round will cover overhead for the next 12 to 18 months allowing us to further prove the business model ahead of an intended institutional fund raise late 2020 / early 2021.”

Since its launch, Smarterly’s latest campaign has raised nearly £1.8 million from more than 200 investors. It is set to close early October.