77. Chest Chest has turned saving for your pension from something perplexing and distant into something engaging, rewarding and set to change lives. Written by Helena Young Sponsored by Sage Published on January 12, 2026 About the Startups 100 Now in its 18th year, the Startups 100 is the definitive list of the most promising new UK businesses. There's no fee for entry or for inclusion in our index. The Startups team of new business experts judge all our top 100 entrants in collaboration with specialist industry consultants. See our guide to this year’s hottest new businesses and most exceptional founders in the complete 2026 Startups 100 index. Founders: Jason Murphy and Alastair AdamYear founded: 2024Website: joinchest.comMore than a third of UK adults aged 40 to 75 years old have absolutely no savings, the Department for Work and Pensions reported in July. For this group, retirement saving is a huge concern; the Pensions Commission found that 15 million working-age people aren’t saving enough, putting them at risk of a significant drop in living standards in later life.The founders of Chest have set out to solve this pervasive issue of pension undersaving. “Millions are effectively sleepwalking into a poor standard of living in later life,” they claim.The founders of Chest have set out to solve this pervasive issue of pension undersaving. “Millions are effectively sleepwalking into a poor standard of living in later life,” they claim.London-based Jason Murphy and Alastair Adam created a platform that allows people to easily save but without impacting their present-day living standards.Aimed at Millennials and Gen Z, it uses behaviours like cashback, automation, and gamification to encourage saving. The duo looked to models like Bilt Rewards in the US, which has turned paying rent into real benefits, therefore changing habits.“Pensions had become invisible and disengaging, so we asked ourselves: how do younger generations actually live, spend, and save today?” the team comments.They wanted people to be interested in their pensions, and knew the model had to change for this to happen.The key to engagement is knowledge. Both founders admit that they were stunned to discover that, when they checked their own pensions, they were facing significant underfunding. This is despite working for a decade in professional services. Their research has revealed that many people don’t know how much money is in their pension; many can’t afford to contribute more and others are anxious about their retirement savings. Pensions had become invisible and disengaging, so we asked ourselves: how do younger generations actually live, spend, and save today? The team had some false starts, including delaying the decision to create their own debit/credit card.Instead, they opted to integrate with existing cashback rails through a platform called Tillo. Advisers guided on this decision; and partnerships continue to be key with Quai Digital, GoCardless and Onfido all on board. Plus, the startup is backed by initial funding from angel investors and supported by the Baltic Ventures and FinTech Wales accelerator programmes.An app is incoming. It will offer easy access to more than 120 national brands for cashback, an AI-powered agent to help users understand their “Chest score”, and the delayed debit / credit card. B2B2C partnerships with employers, gig economy platforms, graduate networks, and universities are also teased over the next five years, as well as international expansion.Combined, these goals will further drive the platform’s uptake and take Chest closer to its objective of being the go-to pension platform for Millennials and Gen Z in the UK and further.View the full Startups 100 Index for 20261. Omnea2. HIVED3. MAGIC AI4. OXCCU5. Lightyear6. Neuranics 7. Hormona8. Burbank9. Better Dairy 10. Lenkie Technologies11. Userled12. Hoxton Farms13. Rensair14. PulpaTronics15. TradeKart16. 32Co17. Carmoola18. cheqd19. Sightline Analytics20. Adamo Foods21. Bold Bean Co22. Beams Renovation 23. Pan Galactic24. Capi Money25. Spotted Zebra26. ANTHROTEK 27. Unravel28. Perci Health29. Untap Health30. Hair Syrup31. Connect Earth 32. spacebands 33. Unfabled34. Lightning Reach35. STOCKED36. Embeddable37. XR Therapeutics38. Literal Labs39. Scooch40. Openr41. Fibe Limited42. Inicio AI43. Peachies44. Better Nature 45. Ctrl Alt46. Resting Reef47. Nila48. ROXFIT49. Finmile50. NavLive51. Volunteero52. Inntelo AI53. Zonova54. A&B Smart Materials55. Ethicronics56. Treeapp57. kennek58. Soil Benchmark59. Vox Aeris60. Asan Cup61. Nuuri62. Mindstone63. MYNDUP64. Enbiosis Biotechnology65. JUX Food66. Danu Robotics67. Wylde Market68. Air Aware Labs69. Mimicrete Ltd70. ALYVE71. Happl72. Living Things73. Grub Club Pets74. Mealia75. PetProov76. Lylo Products77. Chest78. ZIM Connections79. Uptime Labs80. Teal81. Zero Fintech82. Micro Thermal Energy 83. Kanjo 84. Merlin Cloud85. My Skin Feels86. Eleria87. Cashblack88. RevvedUp89. Cosysense90. SuperFi91. Loom92. Legacy Compass93. Meshed94. SWURF95. Main Squeeze96. Sampl Technologies97. Over the Moo98. Pioneering People99. Bikebook100. Recondition Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags 2026 Written by: Helena Young Deputy Editor Helena is Deputy Editor at Startups. She oversees all news and supporting content on Startups, and is also the author of the weekly Startups email newsletter, delivering must-know SME updates straight to their inbox. From interviewing Wetherspoon's boss Tim Martin to spotting data-led working from home trends, her insight has been featured by major trade publications including the ICAEW, and news outlets like the BBC, ITV News, Daily Express, and HuffPost UK. With a background in PR and marketing, Helena is particularly passionate about giving early-stage startups a platform to boost their brands. That's one reason she manages the Startups 100 Index, our annual ranking of new UK businesses. Sponsored by: Sage Startups 100 Index Sponsor 2026 Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.