▼ Summary
– Belgian workplace pensions are inadequate, with median reserves below €10,000 for employees aged 56 to 65.
– Warren, a Ghent-based fintech, raised €10mn in a seed round to address this, following a €3mn pre-seed in early 2025.
– Warren operates its own pension fund with no entry, exit, or asset-based fees, charging employers a flat subscription instead.
– It offers a financial-coaching app with an AI adviser and human experts, integrating data from pay, pensions, and bank accounts.
– Warren aims for 100,000 employees by 2028, betting on growth before potential mandatory pension rules in Belgium.
The average Belgian worker spends roughly four decades in the workforce, only to retire with a workplace pension that is worth less than a used car. This stark reality is what Ghent-based fintech Warren aims to change. The company has secured €10 million in a seed funding round spearheaded by Motive Ventures, the venture capital arm of transatlantic investor Motive Partners. F Capital also participated, alongside existing backers Entourage, Syndicate One, and 100IN. This latest injection follows a €3 million pre-seed round completed in early 2025.
The core issue is deeply structural. With increasing life expectancy and falling birth rates, Belgium’s state pension has long ceased to be sufficient. The so-called second pillar, the supplementary workplace pension designed to fill the gap, is underperforming dramatically. For employees aged 56 to 65, the median reserve sits below €10,000. A significant part of the problem lies in the outdated products themselves. Much of the capital is locked in old group-insurance schemes that promise safety but deliver meager returns once fees and inflation take their toll. For many workers, their pension is reduced to a single, unread document each year.
Warren’s solution is built on radical simplicity. The company operates its own pension fund, the Warren Pension Fund OFP, which secured an IBP license in June 2025 and is regulated by the Belgian FSMA. This fund invests through a mix of equity and bond ETFs. The fee structure is the main attraction: no entry fees, no exit fees, and no percentage charge on assets. Employers pay a flat subscription, keep their existing pension budget, and every cent of return flows directly to the employee. In just one year, roughly 100 Belgian companies, including Lighthouse, Yuki, and Poppy Mobility, have made the switch.
Beyond the fund itself, Warren offers a financial-coaching app that blends an AI adviser with human specialists. It pulls data from a worker’s pay package, the national Mypension.be record, and bank transactions via open banking. The app can model scenarios like what someone would live on during a long-term illness, how much to save to retire at 63, or whether to refinance a mortgage. For more complex issues, users can book a video call with one of Warren’s nine in-house experts.
The company’s timing is strategic. UK rivals like Penfold and Smart Pension grew within a system where retirement saving is mandatory. Warren is moving before Belgium adopts any such rule, a riskier path that could also secure a larger market share if reform arrives. The model it replicates has proven successful elsewhere. In Australia, employers must pay at least 11 per cent of salary into broadly invested pension funds, building a pot worth about twice the country’s GDP. Belgium’s second-pillar reserves are less than a fifth of that. Warren is targeting 100,000 employees by 2028, then one or two larger European markets, and plans to grow its team from 25 to around 55. The open question remains whether Belgian employers will act before a law forces them to.
(Source: The Next Web)