The UK fintech industry is attracting record levels of funding as the world begins to climb out of the Covid-19 pandemic, new data suggests.
A report from Tech Nation claims a new record for VC investment in fintech startups as set in Q3 2021, at $4.88 billion.
As ITPro reports, UK fintech companies have received $11.4 billion in funding so fair this year, more than double the $4.57 billion total for 2020.
Almost half of the sum ($5 billion) came from US investors, something Tech Nation perceived as a sign of “international appeal of some of the UK’s world-leading fintech firms”.
The number of unicorn companies (valued at $1 billion or more) also doubled in the first half of the year, with 20 tech companies achieving the landmark. The UK now has 112 technology unicorns, and more than a third (40) are from the fintech sector.
Another report from payments processor firm Global Processing Services (GPS) suggests the fintech industry has raised even more money this year: $24.5 billion in H1 alone.
Of all the capital raised in the UK, most of the high-profile investments went to homegrown challenger banks. Revolut raised $800 million, while Starling Bank took in $376 million in investment. Paysafe completed a $9 billion dollar merger with Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp II, while Visa acquired cross-border payments specialist Currencycloud for $970 million.
“Following a turbulent 2020 for the world, these figures are a resoundingly positive sign of the resilience and huge opportunity in the global fintech industry, with notable investor appetite pointing to exciting, continued evolution for the sector,” Joanne Dewar, Chief Executive Officer at GPS.
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