The global Fintech build-out continues as investment continues at an accelerating pace and M&A is on track for all time highs.
According to the quarterly Fintech report from FT Partners, Q2 2019 Fintech financing hit $10.9 billion – the second best quarter ever. M&As for the first 6 months of 2019 has already topped the entire year of 2018 at $148.3 billion. In 2018, Fintech M&A came in at$127.8 billion for the year.
Highlights during the quarter include:
- When excluding Ant Financial’s $14 billion financing in Q2 2018, Q2 2019 is actually the largest quarter ever
- After a record-breaking 2018 with $53.8 billion in volume, 2019 is trending towards another strong year, potentially the second-highest behind 2018
- North America and Europe are both on track to reach record levels in terms of total financing volume – Europe has already exceeded the volume from last year at $5.8 billion in H1 2019
- M&A volume in Q2 2019 of $35.6 billion for over 230 transactions
- 2019 so far has had three of the four largest Fintech M&A transactions ever, all three representing acquisitions of large payment processors:
- FIS’ $43 billion acquisition of Worldpay
- Fiserv’s $41 billion acquisition of First Data
- Global Payments’ $25 billion acquisition of TSYS
It should come as no surprise that activity has been fueled banking. Big challenger bank funding rounds, like N26 or Chime, have helped fuel the already hot sector. Additionally, activity in Proptech firms, such as Knock and Opendoor, has helped the real estate sector.
While global Fintech financing in 2019 may not top 2018, due to Ant Financial, it is hard to deny that interest and activity in the innovative financial sector continues unabated.
The Top North American Funding rounds so far in 2019 include:
- UiPath – $568 million
- SoFi – $500 million
- affirm – $300 million
- Lemonade – $300 million
- Carta – $300 million
- Marqueta – $260 million
- Collective Health – $205 million
- Divvy – $200 million
- Symphony – $165 million
- Blend – $130 million
Some of the top Europe an deals so far in 2019 incude:
- Greensil – $800 million
- Transferwise – $292 million
- Checkout.com – $230 million
- WorldRemit – $175 million
- Monzo – $144 million
- PayFit – $79 million
- Ordo $64 million
- ivalu – $60 million
- pleo – $56 million
- onfido – $50 million
Beyond North America and Europe, muliplus in Brazil raised $305 million for its payment platform.
Bithumb booked $200 million for its blockchain based operation in South Korea.
China has slowed from its red hot days but still very active with deals like Shuidi, Tongdun and Wiseco.
Overall, North America, mainly the US, is on track for an all time high of investment of over $21 billion. Europe is on track to capture $11.5 billion and Asia, down considerably from year prior ($25.8 billion) to $7 billion.
You may view the entire report here.