KPMG and CB Insights released the Pulse of Fintech, a quarterly report on the state of Fintech across the world.
The report states that 218 deals worth a total of US$4.9 billion were closed across the globe between January and March 2016 – more than double the US$1.9 billion that was invested into Fintech startups during the last quarter.
A lot of this increase is due to what has been going on in Asia. The continent closed US$2.6 billion worth of deals in investment money, beating the global total raised in the fourth quarter of 2015. That’s also more than five times the US$500 million closed in Asia last quarter.
But the numbers are skewed by a few big investments that took place in China, like Lu.com which raised a series B round of US$1.21 billion, and JD Finance, with a round of US$1.01 billion.
While China continues to drive the majority of investment in the Asian region, other countries are growing their own fintech hubs, including Hong Kong, Singapore, India and Australia.
In total, Asia witnessed 36 deals. Nine deals were struck in China, and 15 in India. The number of early stage investments in Asia grew, however, their average size dropped to US$2 million.
China is not bringing in those small numbers – five of its nine Fintech deals were ranked among the highest in the world.
With 15 closed deals totaling just US$73 million, India’s Fintech investments have been on the smaller side.
Singapore saw a few small deals also, like Call Levels which secured an undisclosed pre-series A round.
Have a look at this chart for information on other deals across Asia.
The top three most active Fintech venture capital funds in Asia were East Ventures, 500 Startups, and Accel Partners, in that order. Banks are also getting more involved.
“Asian banks are increasing their investment and experimentation with Fintech - this is going beyond the traditional accelerators into more long term results driven mechanisms, rather than marketing led publicity campaigns.” - James McKeogh Partner, Management Consulting, KPMG in Hong Kong.
“Fintech entrepreneurs in Asia-Pacific are starting to recognize the size of the opportunity outside of their local markets and are increasingly looking for cross border, regional or global expansion opportunities.” - Ian Pollari Global Co-Leader of Fintech, KPMG International and Partner, KPMG in Australia.
