Over $100 billion invested in FinTech in 2018?

KPMG’s Pulse of FinTech report came out this week. It makes for interesting reading, especially as investment in FinTech has raced ahead to levels unseen before.

Globally, $57.9 billion was invested in FinTech firms in the first half of the year. These figures were slightly inflated by the $14 billion funding round by Ant Financial in China and Vantiv’s acquisition of WorldPay for $12.9 billion. Nevertheless, most countries saw some uptick. Brazil, for example, gained some prominence as Nubank joined the FinTech unicorn club. France, Switzerland, South Korea and Japan also saw significant FinTech deals — extending investment well beyond traditional FinTech leaders like the US, UK, China and India.

In particular, the UK received more FinTech investment than the USA for the first half of the year, taking the top spot in Europe to attract $16.1bn (£12.3bn) out of the continent's $26bn total. This as driven by four big deals including a $250 million funding round by Revolut, $100 million by eToro, $60 million by Flender and $54 million by Moneyfarm. Does this mean the Brexit effect is not real?

Here’s the summary figures:

Global

• In H1’18 global investment in fintech companies hit $57.9 billion across 875 deals
• Global investment YTD (VC, PE and M&A) already exceeds last year’s annual total
• Overall VC deal volume remained steady once again, with continued strength at all deal stages
• Global median venture deal size for late stage investment rose from $14 million in 2017 to $25 million in 2018 (YTD)
• Regtech investment reached $1.37 billion in H1’18 — already surpassing 2017 annual totals

Americas

• In H1’18 fintech investment in the Americas reached $14.8 billion across 504 deals
• 96% of deal value in the Americas came from the US
• Fintech VC deal volume reached new heights during the first half of the year
• Canadian deal value dropped versus H2’17 but deal volume remained strong

US

• In H1’18, US fintech companies received $14.2 billion in investment, including over $5 billion in venture capital investment
• Deal value and volume rebounded in H1’18
• Investors were quick to invest in new startups in emerging fintech sub-segments, including regtech and investment banking
• Top deals were spread across the country — with California and Massachusetts leading the way

Europe

• In H1’18 investment in fintech companies in Europe hit $26 billion across 198 deals
• Huge acquisitions of WorldPay and iZettle and buyouts of Nets and IRIS Software led the way
• Median venture capital angel/seed stage deal size increased from $1.2 million in 2017 to $1.5 million in 2018 (YTD)
• Median M&A size in Europe increased from $23.7 million in 2017 to $60.4 million in 2018 (YTD)
• The UK led the charge with over $16 billion in total fintech investment

 

Asia

• In H1’18 investment in fintech companies in Asia hit $16.8 billion across 162 deals
• Ant Financial’s massive $14 billion round was a massive outlier
• Fintech M&A rebounded during Q2’18 with $611 million invested
• Fintech VC deal volume in India rose to 31 deals in Q2’18 — a new high
• China and India dominated the top 10 deals with six and four massive deals, respectively

You can download the report here.