With the rapid growth of neobanks and digital payments accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the mainstreaming of Cryptocurrency, NFTs, and Blockchain-backed technologies, Fintech has seen multi-faceted innovation in recent years. Emerging economies in particular have benefited from improved financial inclusion.

2021 was a record year for Series A deal amounts in Fintech and 138 Fintechs achieved unicorn status in 2021 — 6.5x growth from the number of unicorns created in 2020. But as inflation has increased in recent months and interest rates are raised, as well as the continued war in Ukraine and disrupted supply chains worldwide, the landscape appears to be changing in 2022.

For the purposes of this report, Fintech describes a business that aims at developing a scalable financial services business by making use of software and modern technology. Fintech companies use the internet, Blockchain, and algorithms to offer or facilitate financial services traditionally offered by banks. These services include loans, payments, investments, and wealth management. Fintech also includes software that automates financial processes or addresses financial firms’ core business needs. Please see the methodology page for more information on the criteria used throughout the research and reporting within this report.

Key Findings

• Of the top 10 tech exits in 2021, four were in Fintech: Coinbase, Nubank, Robinhood, and One97 Communications.
  
  
• 2021 was a record year for Series A Fintech fundraising across the globe, with total deal amounts in Africa increasing almost 900% from 2020, North America up nearly 250%, and Latin American up nearly 200%.
  
  
• Africa saw 10x growth in Series A funding amount in Fintech from 2020 to 2021.
  
  
• Of the 200 Fintech unicorns created between 2017 and 2021, 138 achieved unicorn status in 2021.
  
  
• $287 billion was collectively raised across 534 Fintech exits in 2021.
  
  
• In H1 2022, the count of Series A deals is -27% in comparison to H1 2021 and -17% in comparison to H1 2020.
  
  
• The count of Series B+ deals in H1 2022 is -12% in comparison to H1 2021, although H1 2022 was up 55% from H1 2020, indicating that 2021 levels were a pandemic-related peak.
  
  
• 2021 was a record year for tech startups, and as is normal during record years, inflation was high — valuations calculated in terms of revenue multiples for late-stage funding and exit deals shot up 50% globally compared to 2020. Fintech saw an even higher level of inflation in late-stage funding deals during H1 2022 than in 2021, with revenue multiples increasing another 37%, reaching 104% above H1 2021 and more than 3x H2 2019.