Fintech investments reach record-high of 191 deals in 2021

Around $5.3b of investments in the industry were recorded. 

KPMG revealed that the investments industry recorded a five-year high of 191 deals transacted in 2021.

The report, titled KPMG Pulse of FinTech H2’21, saw a 37% increase to 2020’s deal count of 139, and a 91% to 2019’s 100 deals. 

Total transaction value, meanwhile, reached $5.3b (US$3.49b), 59% higher on a yearly basis when compared to the $3.33b (US$2.48b) in 2020. Included in the count were investments across venture capital, private equity and merger and acquisition deals in 2021. 

Funding for crypto and blockchain took the top spot, with around $2b (US$1.48b) being transacted across 82 deals in 2021. The majority of the deals, in particular, involved software and infrastructure, rather than services. 

“Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are expected to remain very hot areas of investment in 2022, with more crypto firms looking to regulators to provide clear guidance on activities in order to help foster and develop the space. In Singapore, the surge in investments into crypto and blockchain has also outpaced that of Payments which long held the top spot here,” said Anton Ruddenklau, Global Fintech Leader, KPMG International.

The payments sector followed next with investments at $844.77m (US$ 628.41m). Interest in areas such as “buy now, pay later”, embedded banking and open banking aligned solutions helped maintain a robust space for the payments sector.