FT Partners Publishes Q1 2021 FinTech Insights
Q1 2021 was the strongest quarter ever for the FinTech sector across financing, M&A and SPAC transactions.
Key Highlights from the Report:
- Q1 2021 was the strongest quarter ever for the FinTech sector across financing, M&A and SPAC transactions
- In Q1 there were 77 financing rounds of $100 million or more, a record-breaking amount, elevating numerous companies to “unicorn” valuation levels
- Across all company stages, 15 venture capital and strategic investors each made 9 or more new or follow-on investments in FinTech companies in Q1 2021, compared to just one firm having done this in Q1 2020
- Similar to financing activity, Q1 2021 was the most active quarter ever for FinTech M&A with over 370 deals
- Total announced M&A dollar volume reached $95 billion in Q1, with 21 deals all valued over $1 billion, the most ever in a single quarter
Open Banking – Rearchitecting the Financial Landscape
The proliferation of Open Banking standards could have a transformative impact on financial services in the coming years. Open Banking – a framework wherein banks open up their APIs and enable third parties to access customers’ financial data in order to provide new services – provides greater transparency to consumers, while also lowering the barriers to entry for new players. This should encourage heightened levels of innovation and competition in financial services, while also enabling banks to partner with and provide services to FinTech companies, rather than competing directly with them. Open Banking principles have also enabled the rise of Embedded Finance, which empowers any company to offer financial products directly to their customers in their core platforms or apps.
Women in FinTech – Redefining the Future of FinTech
FinTech is one of the few industries that brings together two traditionally male-dominated fields – finance and technology. However, many companies in finance, technology, and FinTech are recognizing the importance of diversity in the workplace. Additionally, a groundswell of FinTech companies that focus on women and their financial health has emerged in the industry.
This report...
- Discusses trends around women in finance, tech, venture capital, and FinTech
- Showcases more than 20 exclusive interviews with female CEOs, founders, executives and investors
- Highlights 22 FinTech companies focused on women's financial health and wellness
- Profiles over 30 FinTech companies with female C-suite executives
- Features 24 investment firms focused on offering financing to female entrepreneurs
Recent VIP Video Conferences
Women in FinTech — Redefining the Future of FinTech
On March 8, 2021 – International Women’s Day – FT Partners hosted a live VIP video conference call with four leading female executives and investors from across the FinTech sector. The women shared their perspectives on the industry, obstacles and challenges they faced throughout their careers, change they have witnessed as well as future opportunities for progress in the industry. Additionally, they shared advice for other leaders and women throughout the finance, tech, VC and FinTech industries. The panelists include: Betsy Cohen, Chair of FinTech Masala; Emmalyn Shaw, Managing Partner of Flourish Ventures; Jackie Reses, CEO of Post House Capital and Former Executive Chairman of Square Financial Services; and Annie Lamont, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Oak HC/FT.
Challenger Banks — The State of Play
On December 17, 2020, FT Partners hosted a live VIP video conference call on Challenger Banks. The panel featured executives from Square, Varo, Dave, Upgrade, and MoneyLion, who provided their perspectives on the state of play in the digital banking space as well as the outlook for 2021 and beyond.
Stablecoins - The Fabric of a New Global Payments Infrastructure
On September 24, 2020, FT Partners hosted a live VIP video conference call focused on the rapid rise of stablecoins and the massive potential implications for the global financial infrastructure. The panel featured leaders in the digital asset space from Circle, Compound, Digital Currency Group and Visa.
Following the broader session, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, provided further insights on the role of Circle Platform Services as an accelerant to the adoption of stablecoins and perspectives on USDC, the fastest-growing regulated stablecoin.
FT Partners Proprietary FinTech Research
FT Partners regularly publishes detailed research highlighting key trends driving market activity across the FinTech Landscape. Our research and analysis has been featured on Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones and the Financial Times and is regularly viewed by CEOs and industry leaders. FT Partners' unique insight into FinTech is a direct result of successfully executing hundreds of transactions combined with over 19 years of exclusive focus on the FinTech sector. Follow FT Partners on Twitter and LinkedIn for real time updates, and subscribe to FT Partners' Monthly FinTech Market Analysis for the industry's most comprehensive and detailed updates on the FinTech sector.
Each report published by FT Partners contains an in depth review of a unique area of the FinTech marketplace and is highly valuable and topical to CEOs, board members, investors and key stakeholders across the FinTech landscape. Each report is continually updated by the FT Partners Research Team with the latest information, facts and metrics to provide our readers with the most up-to-date and comprehensive subject matter. The latest version of each report is provided below along with a brief overview of the report contents.
CEO Monthly Market Update & Analysis Reports
FT Partners provides the broadest and most specialized coverage of FinTech with our comprehensive monthly sector-specific reports. Our depth of research and insight is unmatched in the industry and these reports are widely recognized and reviewed by top CEO's and investors in the market. Each monthly report includes sector-specific public company comparables, recent financing and M&A transactions and upcoming industry conferences and events. The latest month’s reports are available below. Subscribe to receive the latest reports every month.
June 2021
Exclusive Executive Interviews
Jeff Radke
Co-Founder & CEO
Accelerant is a digital risk exchange for P&C insurance that collapses the value chain, removing friction costs and providing better value to policyholders and ultimate risk-bearers.
Eric Frazier
CEO
Payrix is an embedded payments company for high-growth vertical software platforms, offering end-to-end configurations from onboarding through payouts and more.
Gregory VandenBosch
Founder & CEO
HealthBridge connects health insurers, healthcare providers, sponsoring employers and employees to underwriting and servicing of credit options.
Recent Transaction Profiles
FT Partners frequently publishes detailed profiles on significant financing, IPO, and M&A transactions in the FinTech space. See below for a selection of our latest reports.
$251,000,000
Flywire Raises $251 million in its IPO
(NASDAQ: FLYW)
$175,000,000
DailyPay Raises $175 million in Series D Financing Led by Carrick Capital Partners
Merges with
$6,700,000,000
Aurora Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: AURC) Merges with Better for an Enterprise Value of $6.7 billion
Quarterly Insights & Annual Almanacs
Comprehensive FinTech Financing, M&A and IPO data
FT Partners’ FinTech Insights Reports are published on a quarterly basis, along with a comprehensive year-end FinTech Almanac. All information included in the reports is sourced from FT Partners’ Proprietary Transaction Database, which is compiled by the FT Partners Research Team through primary research and data analysis. The reports feature M&A, financing and IPO statistics and trends as well as breakdowns by FinTech vertical, geography, investor-type and much more. Be sure to check back for quarterly updates and additions. All recent reports can be viewed or downloaded for free.
Regularly Updated Infographics
FT Partners regularly publishes infographics highlighting global FinTech transaction activity covering financings, IPOs, SPACs and M&A deals. This deal activity is derived from our proprietary transaction database. Available infographics include:
Weekly FinTech Deal Activity
- Features total financing / M&A dollar volume and deal count
- Highlights largest transactions in the week
- Tracks YTD activity by FinTech Sector and Geography
Monthly & Quarterly FinTech Deal Activity
- Summarizes month-end financing and M&A deal activity
- Breaks down monthly activity by FinTech Sector and deal size
- Highlights largest transactions in the month
- European infographic tracks financing activity by country
View Monthly FinTech Deal Stats
U.S. FinTech IPO and SPAC Analysis
- In-depth analysis of U.S. FinTech IPOs over the past decade including yearly breakdowns by capital raised and FinTech sector
- Rankings of the largest IPOs by capital raised, best and worst performing and most recent FinTech IPO transactions
- Insight into pending IPOs, spin-offs and companies acquired while on file for an IPO
- Details on the most active investors in FinTech IPOs
- Recent FinTech SPAC transactions
- Ranking of the most well funded private FinTech companies
Selected Industry Research Reports
Youth-focused FinTech Platforms Attract Investor Attention
New FinTech platforms continue to gain market share globally, particularly among younger, tech-savvier consumers who don’t require physical branches and are drawn to their lower fees and user-friendly apps. While many leading consumer FinTech platforms cater primarily to millennials, a number of well-funded players have emerged focusing on providing banking and financial services to teens and even younger kids.
The report profiles three youth-focused FinTech platforms that announced large financing rounds in rapid succession:
- Current’s $220 million Series D financing
- Greenlight’s $260 million Series D financing
- Step’s $100 million Series C financing
The report also profiles other players in the space including gohenry, Kard, Mozper, Revolut, Monzo, Tinkoff and Varo.
A Flurry of Activity in Restaurant Tech
The COVID pandemic has been a major catalyst, forcing restaurants to adopt new technologies in order to respond to changing consumer preferences…all the while providing seamless experiences. In particular, restaurants must adapt to an omni-channel environment as e-commerce has taken hold, similar to what retailers have been dealing with for many years now.
In response to these dynamics and in anticipation of a restaurant technology boom, capital markets activity across the restaurant technology ecosystem is heating up with a flurry of recent activity across M&A and capital raising. The report profiles:
- PAR’s $500 million acquisition of Punchh
- Squarespace’s $415 million acquisition of Tock
- Wix’s acquisition of SpeedETab
- Olo’s $450 million IPO
- SpotOn’s $60 million Series C Financing
Additionally, the report includes an in-depth interview with Andrew Robbins, the founder and CEO of Paytronix.
FinTech in Africa Gaining Momentum
Growth in Africa’s FinTech ecosystem is gaining momentum with a number of companies recently raising significant financing rounds or getting acquired by large, strategic players. Notable examples include:
- Airtel Africa’s mobile money business, Airtel Mobile Commerce BV, raising $300 million in financing
- Flutterwave’s $170 million Series C financing
- Chipper’s $30 million Series B financing
- WorldRemit’s ~$500 million acquisition of Sendwave
- Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack
- MFS Africa’s acquisition of Beyonic
- Mukuru’s acquisition of Zoona Malawi
While its FinTech ecosystem has grown significantly in recent years, Africa remains ripe for further disruption given its large unbanked and underbanked population and the fact that several of the world's fastest-growing economies are located in the continent.
Open Banking – Rearchitecting the Financial Landscape
The proliferation of Open Banking standards could have a transformative impact on financial services in the coming years. Open Banking – a framework wherein banks open up their APIs and enable third parties to access customers’ financial data in order to provide new services – provides greater transparency to consumers, while also lowering the barriers to entry for new players. This should encourage heightened levels of innovation and competition in financial services, while also enabling banks to partner with and provide services to FinTech companies, rather than competing directly with them. Open Banking principles have also enabled the rise of Embedded Finance, which empowers any company to offer financial products directly to their customers in their core platforms or apps.
Women in FinTech – Redefining the Future of FinTech
FinTech is one of the few industries that brings together two traditionally male-dominated fields – finance and technology. However, many companies in finance, technology, and FinTech are recognizing the importance of diversity in the workplace. Additionally, a groundswell of FinTech companies that focus on women and their financial health has emerged in the industry.
This report...
- Discusses trends around women in finance, tech, venture capital, and FinTech
- Showcases more than 20 exclusive interviews with female CEOs, founders, executives and investors
- Highlights 22 FinTech companies focused on women's financial health and wellness
- Profiles over 30 FinTech companies with female C-suite executives
- Features 24 investment firms focused on offering financing to female entrepreneurs
2020 InsurTech CEO & Executive Interview Compilation
Over the course of 2020, FT Partners published numerous, exclusive CEO / Executive interviews with InsurTech companies innovating along the insurance value chain. The report features all 13 interviews from 2020 along with new 2021 updates from the CEOs and Executives.
Video Conference Recap: Stablecoins - The Fabric of a New Global Payments Infrastructure
On September 24, 2020, FT Partners hosted a live VIP video conference call focused on the rapid rise of stablecoins and the massive potential implications for the global financial infrastructure. The panel featured leaders in the digital asset space from Circle, Compound, Digital Currency Group and Visa. Panelists provided perspective on fundamental value propositions for programmable currencies, regulatory trends, new markets like Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and the aggregate transformative impact for businesses and individuals globally. Following the broader session, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, provided further insights on the role of Circle Platform Services as an accelerant to the adoption of stablecoins and perspectives on USDC, the fastest-growing regulated stablecoin.
Healthcare Payments: Consumerization and Digitization Create a Massive FinTech Opportunity
The healthcare industry, which accounts for 18% of GDP in the United States, is transforming as the industry adapts to more widespread adoption of digital technologies and confronts the challenges of ever rising costs and the pressures it puts on patients, hospitals and physicians (“providers”), insurance companies (“payers”), the government, and other participants. Similar to other areas of financial services, technology is only becoming more important to the delivery of financial services related to healthcare, resulting in the emergence of a Healthcare Payments ecosystem. Innovative business models and new technologies are eliminating inefficiencies within the current system, and challenging incumbents and traditional models. The 280+ page report features a detailed overview of the U.S. healthcare industry, an analysis of key trends affecting the market, a comprehensive industry landscape, recent financing and M&A activity in the space, profiles of more than 50 key Healthcare Payments / Healthcare IT companies, as well as exclusive interviews with more than 20 industry leaders and executives.
Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on FinTech
The rapid decline in both economic activity and the broad stock market averages, along with the lingering uncertainty around the timing of the return to “normal” economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will undoubtedly negatively impact FinTech financing and M&A activity. Relative to many other areas of the economy, FinTech should hold up well, as many FinTech businesses operate in a largely digital environment or are helping financial institutions and enterprises improve their operations by providing mission critical services. Moreover, the secular trends driving growth in FinTech businesses are likely to remain intact (and perhaps accelerate) as the coronavirus impact recedes. Key discussion topics of the report include: An overview of the pandemic’s impact on FinTech, public and private markets, and the broader economy; A wealth of proprietary data quantifying the impact on consumer spending and small businesses; Highlights of recent investor activity in the FinTech space.
FinTech Meets Alternative Investments: Innovation in a Burgeoning Asset Class
Demand for alternative assets remains strong as investors and plan sponsors seek asset diversification, higher yields, and uncorrelated returns. As a result, alternatives are a clear bright spot in the asset management industry. Despite significant headwinds, successful alternative asset managers are growing while many traditional asset managers have or are considering moving into the space. A similar trend is playing out among investment service providers -- traditional servicers are expanding their capabilities to include alternatives. As demand grows for alternative assets, a new FinTech ecosystem is developing to help investors, investment managers, and service providers to access new asset classes and manage their investments and operations with new data, software, and platforms.
The Rise of Challenger Banks: Are the Apps Taking Over?
The banking sector is experiencing a major shift globally, as Challenger Banks are becoming increasingly formidable competitors to traditional banks and have begun to capture significant market share. Furthermore, the lines between banks and other consumer financial services providers are blurring, with several alternative lenders and robo-advisors beginning to offer banking products to their customers. E-commerce / internet giants are also jumping into the fray with Google and Amazon, among others, beginning to offer banking products. In response to the emergence of Challenger Banks, a number of incumbent banks have launched their own FinTech brands, and traditional financial institutions will likely turn to FinTech solution providers in order to defend their turfs.
FinTech in Africa: Leapfrogging Legacy Straight to Mobile
FinTech is rapidly spreading into Africa. As mobile proliferation and internet penetration continue to accelerate, financial services in many African markets are bypassing traditional banking infrastructure in favor of tech-enabled solutions such as mobile payments, mobile banking and digital lending. With a large, rapidly-growing population and several of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Africa represents a large and attractive market opportunity for FinTech companies given its relatively underdeveloped financial services ecosystem.
Brazil’s Emerging FinTech Ecosystem: A Fertile Environment for Disruption and Innovation
Brazil is in the midst of a FinTech revolution as the confluence of a number of forces has created a very fertile environment for innovation and disruption across various financial, technology and business services. With the world’s fifth largest population, the ninth largest economy and a government encouraging greater competition for a highly concentrated banking ecosystem, Brazil represents a very attractive market and a huge growth opportunity for technology-driven financial solutions across Payments, Banking, Lending, Insurance, Wealth Management, and other sectors.
Klarna: An Online Payments and POS Lending Leader
Founded in 2005, Stockholm-based Klarna is now one of the most valuable privately-held global payment companies with 3,500 employees, LTM revenue (as of March 31, 2020) of $832 million and a recent valuation of $10.7 billion. Klarna began as an alternative payment method in Northern Europe, which enabled users to pay for online purchases following delivery of goods; today, Klarna works with 205,000 merchants to offer multiple payment solutions to more than 90 million users in 17 countries across Europe and North America. The report includes a detailed company and financial overview on Klarna, as well as profiles on other players in the space, Affirm and PayPayl Credit.
Beyond the Credit Score: What’s Next in Consumer Credit Management
Today, while many companies offer free credit scores, few offer free credit monitoring, and even fewer offer key insights about what impacts consumers' credit worthiness. After getting access to their credit scores, consumers are often at a loss of what to do and are largely left on their own to make important credit decisions. This contrasts with the asset side of consumers' balance sheets where financial advisors and, increasingly, robo advisors are using data and analytics to alleviate consumers of the burden of making investment decisions for their specific goals. Consequently, we expect financial service providers to move beyond offering free access to credit information and move towards providing complete credit lifecycle management solutions that not only enable consumers to understand their credit profile, but also directly help them improve their scores and leverage their position in order to obtain the most optimal credit products at any given moment in time.
Prepare for the InsurTech Wave: Overview of Key Insurance Technology Trends
This in-depth report looks at the major waves of innovation and disruption that are beginning to radically alter the insurance industry. The insurance industry, unlike many other areas of financial services, has not yet been substantially disrupted by new technologies and transformative business models. However, the industry now appears to be at a key inflection point as many different constituents in the FinTech ecosystem have their sights squarely set on insurance as the next great opportunity.
Auto FinTech – The Emerging FinTech Ecosystem Surrounding the Auto Industry
As the automotive industry continues to innovate, consumers and businesses will expect the financial services and processes surrounding this massive industry to modernize and adapt as well. Similarly, as new advances change the way consumers and businesses use cars, both traditional financial services and FinTech companies can distinguish themselves by offering new, innovative solutions.
WealthTech: The Digitization of Wealth Management
This report is an in-depth examination of the dramatic changes sweeping across the wealth management industry. The traditional investment management and registered investment advisor (“RIA”) industries are facing numerous threats, and while firms in the industry recognize the need to respond, technology-driven innovation is not a core expertise of most RIAs and investment managers. Consequently, there has been a groundswell of FinTech companies bringing digital capabilities to the traditional wealth management industries. Collectively, we label this segment of FinTech as WealthTech.