Smart

What Smart does

Smart is a Belgian non-profit cooperative organization headquartered in Brussels, founded in 1998, that provides administrative and financial management services to freelancers, independent workers, artists, and trainers. Its core offering is a shared-enterprise model ('entreprise partagée') under which members ('sociétaires') exercise their professional activity without forming a personal company, with Smart handling DIMONA social security declarations to ONSS, payroll, contract management, and invoicing on their behalf. The platform is accessed primarily through a self-service web portal (account.ubik.be) and supported by information sessions and an annual 'Let's coop' general assembly.

The organization is structured through multiple legal entities under the SmartCoop cooperative umbrella created in 2017: Fondation Smart (foundation operating the website), SmartCoop (the cooperative framework), Productions Associées (asbl serving creative/production activities), and Formateurs Associés (asbl serving trainers and educators). A European network of sister cooperatives operates in Germany, Italy, Austria, and Sweden under separate national entities.

Smart generates revenue through recurring administrative service fees tied to member activity. In FY2025 it reported turnover of €198,146,173, with 41,702 cooperative sociétaires, 21,507 salaried members, 35,064 clients, and 23,278 production units. Acquisition is primarily self-service and community-led, with no external venture capital or listed parent. The support team comprises 254 staff managing the platform and member operations.

Name

Smart

Legal name

Fondation Smart

Website

https://smartbe.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Smart is a Belgian cooperative, founded in 1998, that provides freelancers, artists, and trainers with administrative, payroll, invoicing, and social security compliance services through a shared-enterprise model, serving 47,726+ members and generating €198M in FY2025 turnover.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Administrative Service Fees: Smart generates revenue by providing administrative and financial management services to freelancers and independent workers. The cooperative model allows members to exercise their profession without creating a company, with Smart handling administrative tasks including DIMONA declarations to ONSS (social security), payroll management, and invoicing services. Revenue reported as €198,146,173 in 2025.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Smart is a Belgian cooperative that provides administrative and financial management services to freelancers, artists, trainers, and other independent workers, enabling them to carry out professional activity without creating their own legal company. Its core services include DIMONA employment declarations, payroll processing, invoicing, contract management, and unified payment collection on behalf of its 47,726 sociétaires.

Product overview

Smart operates as a cooperative platform providing administrative and financial management services to freelancers, self-employed workers, artists, and trainers. The offering is structured around multiple legal entities under the SmartCoop cooperative umbrella: Productions Associées handles creative and production work, Formateurs Associés serves the training sector, SmartCoop provides the cooperative framework, and Fondation Smart manages the website and operations. Members (sociétaires) access the platform to exercise their professional activity without creating their own company, benefiting from automated DIMONA declarations to social security authorities, contract management, and invoicing services. The platform connects members with 35,064 clients and supports 21,507 salaried members generating 198.1 million EUR in turnover.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smart Membership (cooperative sociétaire status)

Quantifiable outcome

• €198M+ in member business activity processed through the platform

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Smart DeutschlandminorOthersGerman sister cooperative operating under smart-de.org, part of the European Smart cooperative network.
• Smart ItaliaminorOthersItalian sister cooperative operating under smart-it.org, part of the European Smart cooperative network.
• Smart ÖsterreichminorOthersAustrian sister cooperative operating under smart-at.org, part of the European Smart cooperative network.
• Smart SverigeminorOthersSwedish sister cooperative operating under smartcoop.se, part of the European Smart cooperative network.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Emerging players

• Deel: Global Employer-of-Record (EOR) platform that handles employment, payroll, and compliance for international contractors and employees. Operates in Belgium and competes for the same freelance/small business administrative workload with a modern tech stack.
• PayFit: European payroll and HR software platform serving SMBs across multiple countries. Provides automated payroll, social declarations, and HR admin — overlapping functionality with Smart's DIMONA/ONSS services. Could disintermediate Smart by offering self-employed users simpler direct solutions.
• Upwork: Global freelance marketplace that competes for the same freelance talent pool but with a technology-first approach rather than a cooperative employment approach. Useful peer for understanding competitive disruption risk.
• Malt: European freelance platform (originally French) connecting freelancers with clients across multiple European countries. Overlapping target market (freelancers, especially in tech and creative industries) with growing geographic presence that could encroach on Smart's market.

Broad incumbents

• Randstad: Global staffing and HR services giant with significant Belgian presence. Provides employment intermediation and administrative services broadly; less focused on the freelancer cooperative model but operates in adjacent services.
• SD Worx: Belgian-headquartered HR and payroll services provider serving employers across Europe. Comparable Belgian footprint and HR/payroll expertise, but serves employers rather than individual freelancers. Potentially a competitor or partner.
• Adecco: Global staffing and workforce solutions company with operations in Belgium. Provides broader employment services rather than the freelance cooperative model, but represents the incumbent alternatives that freelancers could choose.

Direct peers

• Coople: Swiss-based digital staffing platform that connects flexible workers with employers, operating a similar model of providing administrative and employment framework for independent workers. Closest comparable in terms of cooperative-style employment intermediation in continental Europe.
• Portage Salarial Platforms (e.g., ITG, CCBE): French 'portage salarial' companies provide umbrella employment services for freelancers, offering the same administrative framework (payroll, invoicing, social contributions) that Smart provides in Belgium. Highly comparable service model in a different jurisdiction.

Regional players

• Freelance.com: French freelance services platform (formerly known as Freelance.com) providing administrative and financial management for independent workers in France. Comparable in offering freelance-as-a-service with employment framework, but operates in France rather than Belgium.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SMartBe_FR
• Facebookfacebook.com/SMartBeFR
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smartbefr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smart