SmartWage secures R6M to expand its employee solution across South Africa.

SmartWage, a South African payday solution has secured R6 million to scale the growth and expand its employee solution across South Africa.

SmartWage partners with companies to give employees instant access to their earned salaries and wages.

The fundraising was led by Chris Lister-James from Johannesburg-based seed investor, FiTech Ventures, whose investment philosophy, “driven by a focus on ethical disruption, financial inclusion, doing well by doing good and profit with a purpose,” perfectly matches with SmartWage’s vision to tackle South Africa’s huge and crippling consumer debt crisis.

Lister-James stated, “SmartWage has an ambitious, driven team focused on making a big difference in South Africa and we’re really excited to be joining them on this journey.”

The investment came in the form of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) which allows the investor to make a cash investment in the company while giving the investor the right to receive equity at a later date.

So far, the startup is fully self-funded. However,  this is the first time SmartWage has secured from external investors.

The money from this round will be invested in the development of the company’s technology solution,  supporting key hires at the same time driving rapid customer acquisition efforts as they seek to scale their offering across South Africa.

During the COVID-19 led lockdown, SmartWage’s solution helped protect a company’s cash flow and reduces administrative hassle as well as taking care of their employees, through a financial lifeline that can help employees to make ends meet during an increasingly difficult period.

SmartWage partnered with Yoco’s Support Small campaign and offered their solution to users for free from March through June as a gift of support.

The startup was founded by Simon Ellis, Alex Platt, and Nick Platt in 2019 and based in Johannesburg, South Africa.