Fintech investment smashed all records in 2021
![Fintech 2021 recap cover](https://dealroom.imgix.net/uploaded/2022/01/Fintech-2021-recap.png?w=1536&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=compress,format&h=864)
2021 has been the year of fintech investment. Global fintech startups have smashed all previous records in 2021. We dig it all out in our Fintech 2021 Report.
Report - Fintech investment in 2021, a recap
Fintech startups have raised $125B in VC funding globally, 2.8x more than in 2020.
This astonishing growth has been mainly driven by megarounds, which accounted for 67% of all funding across a record 332 megarounds.
Early-stage funding is also booming, especially in Europe and emerging markets. 2021 saw almost 1.8k early-stage fintech rounds, nearly 2x from 2016.
The total enterprise value of fintech startups has reached $3.5T, a 6.2x increase from 2016. There are now 433 fintech unicorns globally, 193 of which were born in 2021 alone. More than 40% of all fintech unicorns have been created in 2021.
The fintech sector saw $490B of exit value in 2021, more than in the last 5 years combined. Mainly driven by SPACs and IPOs, which accounted for more than 80% of the exit value.
However, performances have been quite poor, with most companies losing double digits from their debut valuation.
Will this put a break on 2022 exits? We highlight countervailing trends, from private valuations to interest rates and the impact they could have on the $500B+ fintech exit pipeline.
NFTs, crypto exchanges & custody, revenue-based financing, neo brokers and BNPL and much more have made 2021 the year of fintech.
Report - Fintech investment in 2021, a recap
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