Fundings

Reflections on the 8-year Bull Market in Fintech

Reflections on the 8-year Bull Market in Fintech
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Fundings, Metrics & Market Research

fintech_nycAs I fly to NYC for the ninth time to host FinovateFall (the biggest ever—Thanks!), I’m in awe of how much the industry has grown since 2007. Fintech wasn’t even a thing then, we were still stuck using the entire six syllables in “financial technology.” And in Sep 2007, we didn’t have a sense of the financial debacle of 2008 we were about to witness, which has shaken things up in many unanticipated ways.

The amount of money going into the sector was a fraction of where we are today. I don’t have good data for 2007, but my guess is that the $12.4 billion raised so far this year is 6x to 8x the amount raised in 2007 (YTD). Is that sustainable? Unlikely, but when you see a single Australian bank (Westpac) spending nearly US$1 billion per year, 80% of it earmarked for new technology, you get a sense of how much pent-up demand there is to modernize financial services.

In total, Celent estimates that worldwide IT spending by banks will be $200 billion this year:

  • North America = $64 billion
  • Europe = $64 billion
  • Asia/Pacific = $70 billion

And that’s banks only. Gartner, which includes securities firms along with banks in its total, says global IT spending will top $500 billion this year.

Similar amounts are spent in the insurance industry where Celent estimates $175 billion will be spent this year:

  • North America = $79 billion
  • Europe = $55 billion
  • Asia/Pacific = $31 billion
  • Other = $11 billion

Adding it all together amounts to nearly $700 billion annually, or more than $3 trillion in the next five years. I think that explains why $12 billion has been invested by VCs and Private Equity so far this year. Granted, much of the financial institution spend is currently directed internally, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way. The entire API ecosystem is betting otherwise, and seems to be winning in many industries.

Based on those numbers, I’m not sure if we have a bubble. VC investing is high by historical standards, but given the opportunity, it may be relatively reasonable. It will depend a lot on how much the big spenders decide to outsource. And that’s almost impossible to predict.

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$680 Million Raised by 29 Alums in Q1 2015

$680 Million Raised by 29 Alums in Q1 2015
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, AdviceGames, Aire, App Annie, Ayasdi, Betterment, Bill.com, BlueVine, Bolstr, Coinbase, CoverHound, Finsphere, Funding, Fundings, Global Debt Registry, Kofax, LendingRobot, Lendio, Linkable Networks, Micronotes, Motif Investing, peerTransfer, Pindrop Security, Q2, Ripple, SimplyTapp, Spreedly, Taulia, TransferWise, TrueLink Financial, Xero

cartoonmoneystackThe biggest surprise in our look at first-quarter funding is that the $677 million amassed by 29 Finovate alums was more than 20% of the $3.2 billion invested in the entire worldwide fintech sector.

The $677 million raised was $85 million (+14%) above the same quarter a year ago, and more than triple the first quarter of 2013.

Q1 2015 was also $133 million above the $544 million mark set in the fourth quarter of 2014.

It will be worth watching to see if this record-setting first quarter for Finovate alum fundraising will be a sign of more great things to come for capital-raising in 2015.

Top 10 Overall Investments

  1. Xero: $111 million in February
  2. Coinbase: $75 million in January
  3. Betterment: $60 million in February
  4. TransferWise: $58 million in January
  5. App Annie: $55 million in January
  6. Ayasdi: $55 million in March
  7. Motif Investing: $40 million in January
  8. Ripple Labs: $30 million in January
  9. Bill.com: $50 million in February
  10. Pindrop Security: $35 in February

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q1 2015: More than $676 million raised by 29 alums
  • Q4 2014: More than $544 million raised by 25 alums
  • Q1 2014: More than $600 million raised by 8 alums
  • Q1 2013: More than $155 million raised by 14 alums

January: More than $275 million raised by 14 alums

February: More than $264 million raised by 8 alums

March: More than $136 million raised by 7 alums

If you are an alum that raised money in the first quarter of 2015, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

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Finovate Alums Raise More than $2.2 Billion in 2014

Finovate Alums Raise More than $2.2 Billion in 2014
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings

ManwithMoney_clipart

Finovate alums raised more than $2.2 billion in financing in 2014.  More than three-quarters ($1.8 billion) was equity and a quarter ($400 million) was debt.  

The tally for 2014 shows that financiers continue to find fintech a worthwhile destination for their capital. After bringing in more than $825 million in 2013, Finovate alums increased their fundraising by more than 70% this year.

Here are a few highlights:

Most Raised in a Single Round: The biggest single raise of 2014 is best looked at three different ways. In terms of the best overall job of fundraising, Kabbage’s $270 million debt financing stands out. Lending Club’s $865 million IPO is tops in the “IPO Category” (with On Deck Capital’s $200 million IPO coming in second). Taking home top honors for best single venture round is Credit Karma ($85 million in March), with a $75 million raise from TradeShift and $70 million raise from Prosper close behind.

Biggest Quarter: The biggest quarter for fundraising was Q4, in which more than $1.4 billion was raised. The fourth quarter featured major fundings for Credit Karma ($75 million) and BlockChain ($30.5 million), as well as major IPO-related investments from Lending Club ($865 million), Yodlee ($75 million), Monitise ($77m), and On Deck ($200 million).

Biggest Month: The biggest non-IPO fundraising month was April, where more than $333 million was raised. The majority of the month’s fundraising gains came courtesy of the $270 million in debt financing secured by Kabbage. Including IPOs puts December at the top of the list, courtesy of the IPOs of Lending Club ($865 million) and On Deck.

Q1 – More than $233.4 million raised by eight companies

January

February

March

Q2 – More than $458 million raised by eight companies

April

May

June

  • None

Q3 – More than $194 million raised by 17 companies

July

August

September

Q4 – More than $1.4 billion raised by 26 companies

October

November

December

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Fintech Funding Bubble: April Fool’s Day Edition

Fintech Funding Bubble: April Fool’s Day Edition
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Fundings, Insurance
Bubbles

Photo credit: pedrosek

To prove that last week’s post where 10 fintech fundings were announced in a single day, I submit for evidence yesterday’s April Fool’s Day activity. 

 

Seems as if companies might want to avoid announcing new fundings on April 1, but that sometimes inauspicious date didn’t faze the pace yesterday as seven fintech players revealed total equity investments of $33.5 million. Adding to that figure is $22.5 mil in debt, for a total of $56 million in new capital. 

  • $22 million to BIMA Mobile to expand its mobile micro-insurance services in developing markets. The company says it already has 7 million customers. 
  • $20 mil in post-IPO debt to Identive Group to further its identity-management platform (NASDAQ: INVE)
  • $4 mil to Citizen.VC in advance of its April launch of an AngelList-like service for funding startups (link to temporary launch page)
  • $4 mil to OpenFin to expand its financial trading platform 
  • $2.5 mil Series A for WealthForge to build out its securities-issuing platform, currently used by Realty Mogul among others
  • $2.5 million in debt to ID.me to expand its digital identity network
  • $1 mil seed-round to PayStand, a Santa Cruz-based digital POS system that accepts credit cards and Bitcoin (of course)
Again, I’m not saying this is a bubble, but it certainly is a LOT of activity. Then again, if you count insurance (not including health), the financial sector is 8.4% of U.S. GDP in 2011, up from 4% in the 1970s. And it’s ripe for improvement in many, many areas. 

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