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08

UK leads the world for FinTech investment in 2018

Open-access content Wednesday 1st August 2018 — updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Brexit fears did not stop the UK’s financial technology industry attracting over $16bn (£12bn) of investment in the first half of 2018, more than any other country.

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That is according to data from KPMG, which shows that the UK accounted for over half the total FinTech investment in Europe, and attracted significantly more than the US' $14bn.

This was largely thanks to Vantiv's blockbuster acquisition of WorldPay for $12.9bn, although the findings also show that four of Europe's top 10 venture capital deals took place in Britain.

"Fintech investment is always fairly volatile, but the UK tends to enjoy higher highs and lower lows than most," KPMG FinTech global co-lead, Anton Ruddenklau, said.

"The year has got off to an exceptionally strong start - while the rest of the year will struggle to replicate the first half, I'm optimistic we will remain in robust shape."

In addition to the "bullish" levels of investment, Ruddenklau went on to say that the UK's FinTech industry had benefited from the government's Fintech Sector Strategy published in March.

Globally, KPMG found that funding reached record levels in the first six months of this year, with $57.9bn invested across 875 deals, compared with $38.1bn over the whole of 2017.

There were nine deals valued at $1bn or more, with an increasing number of corporates looking to leverage financial technology in order to drive innovation.

The number of US deals rose from 276 in the second half of 2017 to 328 in the first six months of this year, while investment in Asia increased from $2bn to $16.8bn across 162 deals.

It was also found that investors are moving beyond experimentation with blockchain, and are now looking to experienced companies rather than new market entrants.

"Large deals at all stages of investment powered FinTech investment in the first half of 2018, but just as notable is the breadth of investment," KPMG FinTech global co-lead, Ian Pollari, said.

"We're seeing a mix of FinTech sub-sectors drawing increasing interest, including data, AI and RegTech - these horizontal capabilities have appeal across the full spectrum of the financial services industry." 


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This article appeared in our August 2018 issue of The Actuary .
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