This year's list is focused on fintech's most powerful dealmakers from the past year, with extra emphasis on partnerships that act not just as funders but also strategic advisors; the fintech sector in particular has taken the term partnership to a new level as these startups need the investment and advisory relationship more than other sectors; Vanessa Colella of Citi Ventures explains, "We are beginning to observe much more of a push toward collaboration - a shift from complete independence to an interest in building tools with established players that happened really quickly in this sector." Source
VeriComply has announced the completion of a new funding round from investors including Jon Barlow of Eaglewood Capital and John Maute of Helios AMC and Situs Holdings; VeriComply plans to use the funding for sales and operations of the firm's automated loan verification services for lending platforms and the secondary market; it is currently building out its business for verification services in the marketplace lending industry. Source
A new report from company builder and venture group Team8 shows it’s a good time for fintechs to pursue unicorn status, provided they do the groundwork.
A new report by PitchBook details how $11.4 billion of private investment has flowed into digital wealth management companies since 2010; investment has occurred in more than 400 deals, with venture capital investment leading the way followed by private equity; the report explains some of the main reasons for this trend as active managers failed their clients while fees have continued to rise; clients are looking for a cheaper more predictable way to manage their wealth; one of the main questions going forward is will incumbents purchase, partner or build their own solutions. Source
Andy Stewart, managing partner at Motive Partners, says fintechs are overvalued in the current market environment; speaking at the UK International Fintech event in London, Stewart says the over valuations are a result of success in the market and confidence from venture capital investors; Stewart cautions investors to watch for buzzwords including machine learning or blockchain that can enhance the value proposition of the solution but may be overvaluing a company's value overall; Stewart's Motive Partners launched in 2017 and is seeking to raise $1 billion. Source
Boutique investment bank GP Bullhound has published a report on the fintech market identifying 39 global fintech unicorns valued at $1 billion or more and showing global venture capital investment into fintech at $13.6 billion in 2016; in its report the firm also identities a watch a list of 17 companies it expects to exceed $1 billion based on their growth, business models and market opportunity; numerous marketplace lenders are represented on the list including LendInvest, Prodigy Finance, ID Finance, Ebury and Kreditech. Source
Dow Jones Venturesource has released its first quarter Europe Venture Capital Report; venture capital funding for the quarter was EUR2.23 billion ($2.42 billion); Atomico's Atomico Ventures IV Fund led fundraising with EUR723.30 million ($786.02 million) representing 32% of total fundraising for the quarter; business and financial services was the top funding sector with EUR877.92 million ($954.05 million) across 163 transactions; Funding Circle reported one of the top five deals in the first quarter with its funding round of EUR94.43 million ($102.62 million); by geography, the UK led fundraising with EUR970.28 million ($1.05 billion) from 150 deals and France was second with EUR398.02 million ($432.53 million) from 78 deals; the full report is available here. Source
CB Insights reports on first quarter 2017 venture capital deals in their "MoneyTree Report" published in collaboration with PwC; globally, venture capitalists invested $27.1 billion in the first quarter with 2,228 deals; deals and investments increased from the fourth quarter of 2016 and were below the first quarter of 2016. Source
Data from KPMG's Q4 2016 The Pulse of Fintech report showed US fintech funding decreasing to $12.8 billion in 2016, down from $27 billion in 2015; deal flow was also lower with 489 deals in 2016, a decrease from 615 deals in 2015; globally, funding was lower at $25 billion versus $47 billion in 2015. Source
The European Investment Fund (EIF) has pumped over $2 billion into venture capital funds and startups in the last four years; with the vote to leave the European Union, venture capitalists in the UK now fear that this important source of funding will disappear as the government looks to officially complete Brexit; the UK is not as fortunate as the US when it comes to endowments that allocate capital to funds, therefore the EIF has filled a much needed role; there currently is no plan to replace the EIF when the UK officially leaves, though lawmakers and lobbyists are looking to see if they can strike a deal to keep the flow of capital coming. Source