In Europe, Fintech investment doubles in Q2’17

Edited and prepared by Oscar Michel, Masters in Journalism

The Total global fintech investment has more than doubled quarter over quarter in Q2’17 to US $8.4 billion, up from US$3.6 billion in Q1’17, according to the KPMG Pulse of Fintech report.*

In Europe, Fintech investment has doubled in Q2 ’17 with over €2 billion invested in the quarter.

Global M&A investment helped drive the fintech market rebound, with US$5.9 billion in deal value for M&A for the quarter. Comparatively, global VC funding to fintech companies declined slightly, with just over US$2.5 billion in VC funding raised by fintechs in the quarter.

In the Americas, a single deal – the buyout of Toronto-based DH – accounted  for US$3.6 billion in deal value, contributing to more than half the total fintech funding during Q2’17. This deal aside, the US and Europe saw the vast majority of fintech investment, with each accounting for US$2 billion. Asia lagged significantly behind the other regions with US$760 million invested. A lack of significant megadeals in Asia likely kept investment relatively weak this quarter.

In Ireland, fintech start up Plynk turned heads this quarter with its Series A raising of $28.05 million from international investors, Swiss Privée – one of the largest Series A rounds in Irish history.

“Fintech investment has made a comeback this quarter – a sign of renewed investor intent – particularly in the US and Europe,” said Anna Scally, Partner, Head of Technology and Media and Fintech Leader at KPMG in Ireland,

According to Scally “Corporates are increasingly accounting for significant amounts of fintech investment – a trend that isn’t likely to let up given the need for financial institutions to digitise the customer experience, become more cost efficient, and find new sources of earnings growth.  A growing trend is for smaller, specialised B2C fintechs to form partnerships with other similar startups, allowing them to offer new options to consumers and compete on larger scale.”

Regarding to the impact on Brexit, Anna Scally added: “Also important to Dublin is the Brexit fintech opportunity.  As the prospect of a hard Brexit becomes more real, we’ve seen financial services companies authorized in London searching for alternative locations, and Ireland is high on that list.  While regulators are pushing major banks and insurers to come up with a Plan B, fintechs haven’t had to be as quick to make decisions.  But expect to see fintechs increasingly examining their options over the next six months.”

America’s region posts strong fintech results for Q2’17, buoyed by single Canadian buyout and broad US investment. In comparison, Asia founding holds steady amid continues absence of megadeals.

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