British startup Penfold, a digital workplace pension provider, announced today it has raised a €4.6 million investment round to grow its presence across the UK SME and accountancy markets and accelerate the development of its pension app with new features for savers and businesses.
The round as led by Gresham House Ventures, a growth equity investor specialising in software and digitally driven businesses in the enterprise solutions, healthcare and consumer market sectors.
Chris Eastwood, Co-founder of Penfold, said: “This investment from Gresham House Ventures is a vote of confidence in our goal of bringing better pension solutions to businesses and savers and will enable us to further enhance our digital offering. Gresham House Ventures has a fantastic track record of supporting fast-growing businesses like ours so we are confident this investment will enable us to accelerate our recent momentum.”
Founded in 2018, Penfold looks to transform the €9.4 trillion UK pensions industry by making saving for retirement “simple, accessible and engaging“. Its platform allows employers to set up and manage a pension, implement salary sacrifice, and offer employee benefits.
Penfold offers a digital workplace pension via a proprietary platform, which enables businesses to sign up or switch their pension in minutes – according to Penfold this is a significant improvement over legacy providers.
The business has seen significant growth in recent years, with the number of employers using Penfold’s workplace pension tripling since the start of 2024 – from 1,200 to over 4,000 – and assets under administration rising by 91% to nearly €830 million by the end of Q1 2025.
Penfold believes that this growth has been fueled by their free salary sacrifice implementation service, helping SMEs save money on National Insurance contributions, and the rapid expansion of its accountancy firm partner network.
The funding from Gresham House Ventures will be used to further grow Penfold’s presence across the UK SME and accountancy markets and accelerate the development of its pension app with new features for savers and businesses. The investment in Penfold will be held in the Baronsmead and Mobeus VCTs which are managed/advised by Gresham House.
The deal continues a busy period for Gresham House Ventures, with the business currently fundraising for its Baronsmead VCTs. It has also been active in terms of dealflow, having recently led investments in accessibility audit and data platform Mobility Mojo and adventure travel scale-up Much Better Adventures.
Rohit Mathur, investment partner at Gresham House Ventures, said: “We have been impressed with Penfold’s commercial traction as it leads the charge in disrupting the pensions industry. With significant potential to further boost its customer base and bolster its digital offering over the coming years, we are excited to support Penfold’s continued progress as it enters the next phase of its growth.”
