Smartwage, an Italian FinTech startup, announced the closing of its €2 million pre-Seed funding round. The startup aims to transform traditional corporate welfare by enabling employees to use their welfare credit with any merchant through its platform.
The round was led by Step Fund, the venture capital fund managed by Alternative Capital Partners SGR. The transaction includes a total investment of €2 million, comprising an initial €1 million, with an additional €1 million commitment from Step Fund, to be deployed in tranches aligned with Smartwage’s cash needs and development milestones.
Felice Cupane, CTO of Smartwage, said, “We designed Smartwage as a scalable technological infrastructure, capable of integrating regulated payments and artificial intelligence into a single coherent system. Our goal is to reduce regulatory complexity through automation, data analysis, and continuous model optimisation. This round enables us to further invest in architecture, security, and the enhancement of our AI systems.”
Smartwage was founded in 2024 by Marco Gambardella (CEO), alongside co-founders Felice Cupane (CTO) and Francesco Varuzza (COO). According to the company, corporate welfare in Italy represents one of the main tools for tax efficiency and human capital enhancement, with a market now worth over €7 billion across benefits and meal vouchers, yet still reaching less than 50% of employees.
“Companies adopting structured welfare solutions report productivity increases of up to 30% and an average growth in revenue per employee of 2.1% for each new service introduced. This scenario sits within a broader European market with a total size of €80 billion, representing 32.59% of the global market,” Smartwage mentioned in the press release.
Over 20% of corporate welfare budgets go unused annually due to the inflexibility of current operating models, which require employees to work within a restricted network of affiliated providers. Smartwage claims that it was created to overturn this paradigm, allowing employees to autonomously spend their welfare credit with merchants of their choice.
It notes that the technology developed transforms welfare into a dynamic and personalised system, through the integration of regulated digital payment tools, including cards and bank transfers and an AI-based assistant acting as a “welfare coach” supporting both employees and employers, with the aim of maximising the impact of welfare investments in terms of employee well-being.
Michele Novelli, Partner at Step Fund, commented, “We are investing in a highly valuable team in which we have already placed our trust in the past and which has clearly demonstrated its capabilities. Currently, 20% of corporate welfare budgets remain unused and, according to our estimates, 50% of workers still lack a dedicated plan.
“This is a real paradox in a country where 62% of employees struggle to make ends meet — a critical issue that an intuitive, user-friendly technological solution like Smartwage can finally address. This transaction fully aligns with Step’s investment thesis, which focuses on the deep transformation of markets enabled by artificial intelligence.”
With this funding, the company plans to accelerate the development of its digital platform, strengthen its go-to-market strategy, and enhance its AI models through continuous training and optimisation.
Smartwage is supported by Zest, a leading Italian operator in pre-Seed investments and open innovation and a partner of Step Fund, through a strategic service agreement focused on governance, financial planning, and investor network development.
