FinTech News

CB Insights Names FinTech 250 for 2021

As FinTech’s blockbuster year rolls on into the fourth quarter, CB Insights has just released its list of the top 250 FinTechs of 2021. This is the fourth year that the firm has put out the list of private companies selected from a pool of more than 17,000. According to CB Insights, the final list was assembled according to several factors, including a proprietary algorithm that measures the overall health and growth potential of the startups. The 250 selected FinTechs fall into 19 different categories, including Personal Finance, POS & Consumer Lending, Real Estate & Mortgage, Payroll & Benefits, Payment Process & Networks, Cryptocurrency, Business Lending & Finance, Insurance, and Digital Banking among others.

In all, the 250 startups featured raised a total of $73.8 billion from more than 1,200 deals over the past five years. However, so far in 2021 alone (as of September 14th), the selected FinTechs saw $40.3 billion in equity funding from 275 deals. Moreover, 138 of those year-to-date deals were “mega-rounds” of $100 million or more. Taking the crown for the most well-funded FinTech on the list this year was Klarna. Not only has the buy now, pay later platform raised upwards of $3.5 billion since 2010 but also closed a $1 billion venture round in March of this year.

Turning to the venture capital firms helping fuel these FinTechs, Ribitt Capital was the most active investor in companies that made this year’s list. In total, Ribbit has made 62 deals with 2021 FinTech 250 companies since 2016 including 41 deals since 2019. Tiger Global’s 57 deals and Accel’s 55 deals with the class of 2021 over the past five years put them right on Ribitt’s heels as well.

Notably, while the list included companies at various stages, nearly half (118 of the 250) are currently “unicorns” with valuations in excess of $1 billion. Meanwhile, the selected startups also came from around the globe. In fact, 36% of this year’s list were companies based outside of the United States. The United Kingdom was the second most represented country with 25 FinTechs on the list followed by India’s 12. In total, the list covers 26 different countries.

Commenting on this year’s 250 and what’s become of the previous class of companies, CB Insights CEO Anand Sanwal said, “After being named to the CB Insights Fintech 250 last year, the 2020 class saw 17 companies go public and 25 get acquired. They also went on to raise over $25 billion in additional financing and forged more than 380 new partnerships after being recognized.” Sanwal added, “The Fintech 250 has a history of spotlighting the very best fintech companies, and this year is no different. We’re excited to see how these fintech startups disrupt and transform financial services in the years ahead.”

Once again, CB Insights’ FinTech 250 list highlights how strong the sector currently is. Furthermore, it also shows the FinTech umbrella is rather wide, covering a number of niches while also spanning the globe. If CB Insights’ track record is anything to go on, we can expect big things from these 250 companies in the years ahead.