Smartwage, a start-up that is bringing about a paradigm shift in the corporate benefits market, aims to transform corporate welfare from a closed, static system of agreements into a flexible digital wallet that can be spent immediately, thanks to a technology platform that integrates regulated payment tools and artificial intelligence. The fintech verifies and authorises employees\u2019 welfare spending in real time, allowing them to spend at any provider offering services permitted by law, and proactively suggests refunds via a link to the individual user\u2019s bank account. <\/p>\n\n
The platform thus enables companies to manage budgets centrally, automating expenditure checks and reducing administrative burdens. At the same time, it enables employees to use their welfare credit via a dedicated app either directly, using a linked payment card, or indirectly, through reimbursements. Furthermore, the app also features an AI-powered welfare coach that assists users in optimally allocating their budget, thereby combating the issue of unspent welfare, which on average amounts to between 20% and 40% of the total available. <\/p>\n\n
Smartwage has announced that it has closed a \u20ac2 million pre-seed funding round led by Step Fund, the venture capital fund managed by Alternative Capital Partners and dedicated to seed-stage investments in high-tech Italian start-ups. <\/strong>The deal involves an initial investment of one million euros and an additional commitment of a further million euros from Step Fund; the funds will be released in tranches to best support the fintech company\u2019s cash flow requirements and the stages of its digital platform\u2019s development plan, gradually enhancing the app\u2019s functionality for both employees and businesses.<\/p>\n\n Felice Cupane, CTO of Smartwage, comments in a statement: \u201cWe designed Smartwage as a scalable technological infrastructure capable of integrating regulated payments and artificial intelligence into a single, coherent system.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cOur aim is to reduce regulatory complexity through automation, data analysis and the continuous optimisation of models. This funding round enables us to invest further in architecture, security and the refinement of our artificial intelligence systems.\u201d <\/p>\n\n Michele Novelli, a partner at Step Fund, says: \u201cWe are investing in a highly capable team that we have backed in the past and which has amply demonstrated its expertise. Today, 20% of the budget allocated to employee welfare remains unused and, according to our estimates, 50% of workers still do not have a dedicated scheme. This is a real paradox in a country where 62% of employees struggle to make ends meet (source: ADP Research\u2019s People at Work 2025 Report); a critical issue that an intuitive technological solution with an excellent user experience, such as Smartwage, can finally resolve. This transaction is fully in line with Step\u2019s investment thesis, which focuses on the profound transformation of markets enabled by artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n\n Smartwage is supported by Zest, which operates in the field of pre-seed investment and open innovation and is a partner of Step Fund, through a strategic service agreement focused on governance, financial planning and the development of the investor network. The partnership strengthens the fintech company\u2019s position within the innovation ecosystem and consolidates its organisational structure in preparation for the next stages of growth. <\/p>\n\n In Italy, corporate welfare is worth over \u20ac7 billion, yet fewer than 50% of employees actually benefit from it. The main problem? Traditional systems are inflexible: fixed packages, complex processes and restrictions on the use of credits. Smartwage transforms benefits from a theoretical promise into a practical tool for wellbeing and purchasing power, offering an open, flexible and fully digital system. Companies that adopt structured welfare solutions see productivity increases of up to 30% and an average growth in per-capita turnover of 2.1% for every new service introduced (source: Annual Report of the Corporate Welfare Lab, produced by Luiss Business School in collaboration with Edenred Italia). <\/p>\n\n With Smartwage, employee benefits become a genuine tool for engagement and retention. Employees gain real purchasing power and freedom of choice by incorporating benefits into their everyday spending, whilst companies benefit from simpler, more transparent and measurable management of their employee benefits schemes. <\/p>\n\n The project stems from an idea by Marco Gambardella, founder and CEO of Smartwage, supported by co-founders Felice Cupane as CTO and Francesco Varuzza as COO (pictured). The team brings together complementary expertise in the fields of technology and finance. The three founding partners share a common background at Plurima, a company founded and developed by Gambardella, with Cupane and Varuzza serving on the board of directors, culminating in 2023 with the sale to Italiana Assicurazioni. Joining the founding team are Lorenzo Ait and Delia di Bona as advisors, who will actively support commercial development, strategy and funding. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The start-up is receiving funding in successive tranches from the Step Fund, managed by Alternative Capital, and can count on the support of Zest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":163851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1317],"tags":[1143,1137,1136,1145],"companies":[3354],"journalist":[1518],"class_list":["post-163852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funding-news","tag-investments","tag-italy-en","tag-startup-en-2","tag-venture-capital-en-2","companies-smartwage","journalist-editorial-staff-en"],"featured_sizes_urls":{"thumbnail":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Smartwage_team.webp","width":113,"height":150,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"corporate welfare"},"large":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Smartwage_team.webp","width":768,"height":1024,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"corporate welfare"},"2048x2048":{"src":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Smartwage_team.webp","width":1200,"height":1600,"crop":false,"srcset":false,"alt":"corporate welfare"}},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n