AMSTELVEEN
\nFunding of financial technology companies globally rose to a record $98 billion in the first half of this year, driven by portfolio diversification needs of investors with cash reserves.
\nAccording to a report titled \u2018Pulse of FinTech,\u2019 released by global consultancy KMPG, financing across mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital deals in the first six months to the end of June climbed 12 percent from $87.1 billion recorded in the second half of 2020.
\nStrong growth and performance of the FinTech sector also drove valuation of companies higher, with 163 companies achieving the so-called unicorn status of $1 billion in valuation in the first half.
\nFinTechs in the Europe Middle East and Africa region received $39.1 billion in investment, including a record $15.1 billion in venture capital financing. Corporate venture capital-affiliated investments for the EMEA region also rose to all-time high of $5 billion, according to the report.
\n\u201cUnder pressure to increase the velocity of their digital transformation and to enhance their digital capabilities, corporates were particularly active in venture deals,\u201d KPMG said. Corporations accounted for $21bn in investment in nearly 600 deals globally.
\nThe value of cross-border mergers and acquisitions deals rose from $10.3 billion during the whole of 2020 to $27.7 billion in only the first half of 2021. Private equity companies made investments worth $5bn, surpassing the previous annual high of $4.7 billion in 2018.
\nFinTech investment is expected to remain \u201crobust in most regions of the world\u201d in the second half of this year, KPMG said.
\n\u201cWhile the payments space is expected to remain a dominant driver of FinTech investment, revenue-based financing solutions, banking-as-a-service models and B2B [business-to-business] services are expected to attract increasing levels of investment.\u201d
\nGlobal investment in cyber security also hit a record during the first half of 2021, reaching $3.7bn from $2.2bn recorded in the first six months of 2020.
\n\u201cGiven the rise in digital transactions, and the subsequent increase in cyber attacks and ransomware, cyber security solutions will likely also be high on the radar of investors [in the second half],\u201d according to KPMG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AMSTELVEEN Funding of financial technology companies globally rose to a record $98 billion in the first half of this year, driven by portfolio diversification needs of investors with cash reserves. According to a report titled \u2018Pulse of FinTech,\u2019 released by global consultancy KMPG, financing across mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital deals in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-211514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n