Data generated by Pitchbook and posted by Innovate Finance, a UK-based group that supports the Fintech community, highlights global Fintech funding trends in the first half of 2024. The data includes both equity and debt funding raises.
Fintech has been a significant success story “for the UK over the last 10 years, creating over 75,000 jobs, filling the gaps in SME lending, driving financial inclusion and growth across the country, and building a #2 global market position.”
The total capital invested into Fintech globally “reached $15.9 billion in H1 2024, a decrease of 19% compared to H2 2023 when total investment amounted to $19.5 billion.”
The capital invested in Fintech in “the first half of 2024 was spread across 1,566 deals compared to 1,661 deals in H2 2023.”
There was a shift towards “earlier Stage deals (Seed to Series B), and the average deal size was $10.2 million, reflecting a return to early-stage investments.” This is encouraging for future development and indicative of investors willing to shoulder more risk.
As one may expect, the US received the bulk of funding in H1 2024, bringing in $7.3 billion in Fintech capital across 599 deals. The UK garnered second place with $2 billion and 183 deals, down by 37% when contrasted to the prior six months. Interestingly, India came in third with $837 million and 78 deals, China with $589 million invested across 30 deals, while Germany registered $462 million invested across 37 deals. At one time, China was a top Fintech funding environment but has since declined – largely due to the collapse of the peer-to-peer lending industry. France is no longer in the top ten, and with the recent election results, the country may not be in a position to recover its standing.
Innovate Finance notes that the UK booked more funding than all other European countries combined. UK Fintech funding represented a 12.7% share of the global market.
Over the last 12 months, UK investment has also been above pre-COVID investment levels of 2018 and 2019—another positive sign.
Female-led Fintechs in the UK received $136 million in investment across 42 deals in H1 2024, which represents 0.7% of the UK total of $2 billion, a decline from the 10% reported in the full year 2023.
The report states that the UK and global Fintech funding reached a cyclical low point from their 2022 peak, reflecting the global venture capital market.
The question remains as to whether, or not, we have seen a bottom in Fintech funding.
Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, said:
“Despite a challenging investment landscape in the first half of 2024, the UK Fintech sector maintains its position as a global hub for investment, second in the world behind only the US, and maintaining an undisputed leading position in Europe. We believe the decline in investment since the 2022 peak may have bottomed out, however the market has not yet shown that it has turned and this may not start until 2025. When it does turn, the UK’s challenge is to make sure we can maintain and grow our market position, which is not guaranteed. We continue to work with industry, regulators and policy makers to maintain the UK’s leadership and ensure the necessary investment is in place for the UK to attract critical growth funding.”
As noted in the update:
“The latest investment figures show increasing global competition for Fintech investment, demonstrating the ever greater need for the UK policy and regulatory environment to take action to maintain our lead in Fintech and in financial services more widely. Moreover, with political uncertainty affecting investment elsewhere in the world, the UK has a window of opportunity to forge ahead. We have also published today our Fintech Plan for Government, which sets out priority actions to maintain the UK’s global leadership in Fintech and unleash Fintech’s contribution to the Government’s mission to grow the UK economy and create opportunity for all.”