Smartwage Raises €2M To Modernize Corporate Welfare With AI And Digital Payments

The round was led by Step Fund, the venture capital fund managed by Alternative Capital Partners SGR. The investment includes an initial €1 million tranche, with a further €1 million committed to be deployed in stages based on Smartwage’s growth milestones and funding requirements.

Smartwage was founded in 2024 by Marco Gambardella (CEO), along with co-founders Felice Cupane (CTO) and Francesco Varuzza (COO). The company focuses on transforming corporate welfare in Italy, a market worth over €7 billion, which still reaches less than half of employees.

According to Smartwage, more than 20% of corporate welfare budgets go unused each year due to rigid systems that limit employees to restricted networks of approved providers. The startup aims to change this by enabling workers to freely spend their welfare credits with any merchant of their choice.

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Its platform combines regulated digital payment tools such as cards and bank transfers with an AI-powered “welfare coach” that supports both employees and employers. This approach turns corporate benefits into a more flexible, personalised system designed to improve employee well-being and maximise the value of welfare spending.

With the new funding, Smartwage will accelerate product development, strengthen its go-to-market strategy, and further enhance its AI capabilities through continuous optimisation and training.

The company is supported by Zest, a leading Italian pre-seed investor and open innovation partner of Step Fund, providing support in governance, financial planning, and investor network development.

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.”

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.”

About Smartwage

Smartwage Società Benefit is a fintech platform improving employees’ quality of life by enabling them to spend welfare credits freely and consciously. It increases purchasing power beyond salary offering complete flexibility in where benefits can be used. The platform simplifies corporate welfare removing complexity and enhancing employee well being and choice.