KPMG reveals that financial tech firms in the UK received seven times more investment in 2021 than in 2020. That jump saw the total reach $37.3 billion, representing a bigger fintech investment than Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.
The rise was pushed up by 601 deals finalized in the UK in 2021, compared to 470 from 2020. London’s fintech rise got even more solid ground to stand on considering the deals’ sizes, including the Refinitiv deal, worth $14.8 billion completed in January 2021.
From strength to strength
Of the ten largest fintech deals in the EMEA region, five were completed in the UK. The KPMG report also shows that even though the UK fintech market is growing fast, it still only makes up a fraction of the overall market. The report indicates that the total global fintech funding across sectors was worth $210 billion in 2021, spread out across 5,684 deals.
Payments continue to bring in the most funding ($51.7 billion globally and up from $29.1 billion in 2020) due to continued demand in areas like ‘buy now, pay later.’
London calling
To boost the UK’s London Stock Exchange (LSE) and overall growth, the Telegraph reported in January this year that Downing Street launched a bid to attract Klarna, the $45-billion payments firm, to the LSE, amid fears that London is losing high-growth companies to the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange.)
Anton Ruddenklau, global fintech leader at KPMG international, said the research shows interest in all kinds of fintech companies as wealthtech, cybersecurity, crypto, and blockchain raise record funding. Private Equity funds are taking notice of the new fintech business models that create stabler income from consultancy and retainers.