FinTech News
FinTech Funding Hits $28.8 Billion in Q1 2022
Following a record-breaking 2021, FinTech has seemingly continued that hot streak into the new year. Now, that hunch is being backed up by new data that shows a blockbuster first quarter for the sector.
According to the latest report from CB Insights, startups in the financial technologies sector closed a combined total of $28.8 billion in deals last quarter. Although that’s below the totals of quarters two, three, and four of last year, it is an increase from the $27.3 billion total of Q1 2021, making for the highest first quarter on record. What’s more, FinTechs garnered 20% of all venture capital investments during the quarter — although that percentage is down slightly from the 21% share the sector saw last year.
Notably, the $28.8 billion was divided across 1,399 deals, topping any previous quarter. In turn, the average deal size fell to $25 million from $32 million in 2021. Nevertheless, the median deal size held steady at $5 million. Interestingly, despite these trends, early-stage deals made up a slightly smaller share of total investments when compared to 2021, falling from 64% to 62%.
As for the companies taking in the largest investments of the quarter, Checkout.com’s $1 billion Series D and Flexport’s $935 million Series E easily topped the list. Cross River Bank placed third with its $620 million Series D. Qonto and Fireblocks rounded out the top five, each with rounds topping half a billion. Turning to earlier rounds, U.K.-based Accelerant’s $190 million round was the top FinTech Series A, also placing seventh among all sector Series As.
The first quarter also saw the birth of several FinTech unicorns. In total, 34 startups surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark during the quarter, bringing the current total to 267 by CB Insights’ count. Among those new unicorns are the aforementioned Qonto and Cross River Bank with new valuations of $5 billion and $3 billion respectively.
Lastly, looking at the venture capital firms behind these deals, Tiger Global Management was once again the most active FinTech investor with a total of 39 companies. They were followed by Germany’s Global Founders Capital with 29 and angel investor Gaingels with 24.
Overall, the lastest report shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as deals — including several “megadeals” — have continued to roll in since 2022 began. Nevertheless, it’s encouraging to see that the sector is outpacing its previous record. Furthermore, with a greater number of startups taking a piece of the pie, it’s clear there’s plenty of promise in the world of FinTech going forward.
