# Penelope

> Penelope is a New York fintech that makes 401(k) retirement plans practical for the businesses that usually get ignored - the corner shop, the two-person startup, the solopreneur. Founded in 2021 by former Wall Street executive Jean Kim Smart and named after her daughter, the company started as a low-cost, self-service platform offering Pooled Employer Plans, traditional 401(k)s and Solo 401(k)s, and has since built a cloud-native, API-first, SECURE 2.0-ready recordkeeping platform that independent recordkeepers and benefit providers can run under their own brand. The pitch is unglamorous but real: automate the paperwork, cut the cost, and let roughly 60 million Americans who work for small employers start saving.

- **Founded:** 2021
- **Headquarters:** New York, New York, United States
- **Founders:** Jean Kim Smart (Founder & CEO)
- **Team size:** ~28 employees
- **Products:** Small-Business 401(k) Platform, Pooled Employer Plan (PEP), Solo 401(k), Cloud-Native Recordkeeping Platform, Payroll Integration & Auto-Enrollment
- **Notable:** Raised $2.1M in pre-seed funding led by Slauson & Co. (2022) with backing from executives at Wells Fargo, Citigroup and US Bank., Launched a self-service 401(k) platform for small and micro-businesses in January 2022., Built a cloud-native, SECURE 2.0-ready recordkeeping platform with embedded AI for payroll, trade files and loan approvals.

## Products & services

- **Small-Business 401(k) Platform** — A low-cost, self-service subscription platform that automates employee investing, streamlines cost and paperwork, and offers Pooled Employer Plans (PEP), traditional 401(k)s and Solo 401(k)s for micro-businesses, startups and solopreneurs.
- **Pooled Employer Plan (PEP)** — A shared retirement plan structure that lets small employers join a professionally administered pool, reducing cost, fiduciary burden and administrative overhead.
- **Solo 401(k)** — A retirement plan designed for self-employed individuals and owner-only businesses looking to maximize tax-advantaged savings.
- **Cloud-Native Recordkeeping Platform** — A modern, SECURE 2.0-ready, API-first recordkeeping and plan-administration platform for independent recordkeepers and benefit providers, with participant and sponsor dashboards, white-label configuration, and embedded AI for payroll processing, trade files and loan approvals.
- **Payroll Integration & Auto-Enrollment** — Seamless payroll-provider integrations and auto-enrollment tooling so contributions flow automatically from each paycheck, plus compliance, testing and regulatory filing support.

## Achievements

- Raised $2.1M in pre-seed funding led by Slauson & Co. (2022) with backing from executives at Wells Fargo, Citigroup and US Bank.
- Launched a self-service 401(k) platform for small and micro-businesses in January 2022.
- Built a cloud-native, SECURE 2.0-ready recordkeeping platform with embedded AI for payroll, trade files and loan approvals.
- Assembled an industry partner roster including Vanguard, Charles Schwab, State Street and Broadridge.
- Positioned as a mission-driven fintech with a team and partner base that is roughly 90% women, people of color and immigrants.

## Latest updates

- **2022-03** — Announced $2.1M pre-seed round led by Slauson & Co. to accelerate small-business adoption of 401(k) plans.
- **2023-11** — Founder Jean Smart featured by Experian's Small Business Matters on retirement plans for small business owners.
- **2025-05** — Recorded as most recent funding activity per company records (Seed).
- **2026-01** — Website repositioned around a cloud-native, SECURE 2.0-ready recordkeeping platform for independent recordkeepers and benefit providers.

## Links

- Website: https://penelope.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/penelopeco
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/www.penelope.co

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/penelope
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-03