London, 24. March 2025- Upvest, Europe’s leading investment infrastructure provider, has announced the appointment of Starling Bank’s former Head of SME Banking, Symmie Swil, as UK General Manager, as the company embarks on an ambitious scale-up strategy across the region.
Upvest’s Investment API enables fintechs, banks and wealth managers to offer end users the ability to invest across ETFs, stocks and mutual funds - helping to make investing accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial background or technical expertise.
Founded in Berlin in 2017, Upvest is already active in 20 markets and processing more than 2 million orders per week on behalf of its European client base, including N26, bunq, Raisin, Plum, Shares, and Revolut. It plans to triple current order rates by the end of the year.
Following FCA approval in 2024, Upvest is now focused on rapidly growing its presence across the UK, with Swil appointed to lead this scale-up effort and the company on track to go live with three UK clients before the end of the year.
Alongside growing its market presence, Upvest also plans to expand its product offering; adding further localized tax and pension wrappers (ISAs, SIPPs), and asset classes (derivatives, bonds, ELTIFs).
Swil brings almost two decades of banking and fintech experience to the role. In addition to her time at Starling Bank - where she scaled the SME customer base from 150,000 to 450,000 accounts and tripled deposits from £2B to £6B in just 18 months - Swil has previously held the position of Deputy COO and Head of Business Operations at Investec (Corporate and Investment Bank) and was most recently COO at fintech Finverity.
With ambitious plans for growth across the region, Swil will be working to grow the London-based team to up to 50 in the coming months (joining the existing team of 200 based across Europe), operating from Upvest’s new UK HQ in Shoreditch.
The UK has a strong legacy of financial innovation, yet there’s still so much untapped potential to empower individuals in taking control of their wealth. Our solution makes it easy for any financial institution - whether it’s a fintech or a bank - to offer compelling and affordable investment opportunities to their end users through modular, scalable, and compliant investment infrastructure. Upvest has built a truly market leading solution which is on track to transform the UK financial sector, making investments more accessible for millions of individuals. Having seen the impact of Upvest’s trailblazing journey through Europe, I’m honoured that I will be leading our UK team as we work to bring the same benefits to the UK market.
As UK General Manager, Swil will scale the business across the UK’s banking and fintech spheres - providing these institutions with the infrastructure needed to meet the growing demand from digital natives for accessible investment solutions and helping to make the UK a nation of investors.
It’s estimated that over 60% of UK adults don’t currently actively invest, indicating huge potential for retail investor expansion. Recent analysis estimates that 13 million adults in the UK are holding £430 billion in cash that could instead be used to invest; a major investment gap that, if closed, would drive major rewards for individuals and UK Plc.
Martin Kassing, CEO of Upvest, comments: “Symmie is the ideal person to lead our UK efforts. With her unique combination of banking and fintech experience, she has a deep understanding of our clients’ objectives and the role technology can play in achieving them. She is also passionate about empowering a new generation of retail investors to take control of their financial futures and embrace investing - the very mission on which Upvest was founded.”
About Upvest
Upvest is on a mission to make investing money as easy as spending it. The company empowers businesses to offer a wide range of investment products and the best experience in the field of capital market investment and retirement planning. Upvest’s Investment API is easy to integrate so that fintechs and enterprises alike can save resources and fully focus on their core business.
Upvest is one of the few fintechs in Europe that can provide its B2B clients with brokerage, settlement, and safe custody services across a full range of investment opportunities. The company was founded in 2017 by Martin Kassing and currently employs 200 people. Its latest €100m fundraising round (Series C) was led by Hedosophia and Sapphire Venture, with continued support from existing investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, BlackRock, Earlybird, HV Capital, Motive Ventures, and Notion Capital.
For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
Julieta Varsano
press@upvest.co
