ABAKA completes Series A funding round with $6.5 million investment

• ABAKA will use the funding to support its international expansion and ongoing development of customer engagement and digital retirement solutions
• The completion of the funding round brings the total investment in ABAKA to date to $10 million

ABAKA, the London-based digital retirement solutions provider, has today announced that it has completed its Series A funding round with a joint investment of $6.5 million from Thames Trust, Ace&Co and Downing Ventures. The news means that total investment in ABAKA to date has now reached $10 million, with the firm receiving one of the biggest investments in technology for the pensions and retirement space.

ABAKA will use the funding to continue to invest in research and development, including the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver new and innovative retirement solutions for its enterprise clients. The fintech company is also planning to accelerate its global expansion into Asia and North America.

ABAKA is using AI to revolutionise how financial services providers help their clients financially plan for the future. The firm uses AI technologies such as its chatbot AVA and intelligent personalised nudges to improve customer engagement. ABAKA’s Enterprise platform through its range of modular applications, enables providers to move away from legacy systems and deliver a digital experience which benefits both the organisation and its clients.

Fahd Rachidy, founder and CEO at ABAKA, said:

“ABAKA is a leader in delivering digital solutions for the pensions and retirement sector.  It’s great to see our investors supporting our innovation in this market. In a world of hyper-personalisation and digital experiences, financial services companies across the globe face the challenge of engaging their customers to plan for a financially secure retirement and the pensions sector is calling out for innovation.

“At ABAKA, we believe that harnessing AI-led solutions has the potential to revolutionise the retirement and savings industry, using what we call Artificial Financial Intelligence to help financial services companies better engage their clients in financial planning.

“We’re incredibly excited about what we’ve started here at ABAKA.  The completion of our Series A investment round marks another step in our journey to delivering solutions which can help more people to enjoy a financially secure retirement.”

Stefania Ponzo, Downing Ventures, said:

“We’ve been impressed by the leadership of Fahd and the team in building an impressive solution to address the rising demand for digital advice on long-term savings and retirement, amidst a world of low-margins and profitability challenges for financial institutions.

“Downing Ventures is thrilled to support this venture and are excited to back a talented team, building technology to enable affordable, assessible and transparent financial advice for consumers at the touch of a button, transforming the future of the global pensions and retirement.”

Charles Lorenceau, MD at Ace&Co, the Swiss based PE firm, said:

“We’re delighted to help ABAKA in their mission to build Enterprise solutions for the financial institutions that are keen to innovate, build outstanding customer digital experiences and further support the needed engagement on retirement and long-term savings. ABAKA has gathered an incredible team of experts in AI and financial services and we’re excited about the opportunity to support their accelerating growth.”

ABAKA has created an AI-driven digital platform that gives the financial services industry the means to engage with their clients, which they call Artificial Financial Intelligence™.  To learn more visit www.abaka.me