Fintech leaders raise $4 bln in Q2, after pandemic impact in Q1

Fintech leaders raised a total of $3.81 bln in the second quarter of this year, significantly higher than the amount raised in the first quarter which was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, data collected by BuyShares indicate.

Online payment processing platform Stripe raised $850 mln, followed by Robinhood at $430 mln, while Vero has raised $241 mln. Health insurance company Oscar raised $225 mln, with Carta closing the top five categories at $210 mln.

The five fintech firms account for 51% of the total amount raised by the firms reviewed by BuyShares, the UK-based financial education platform.

Furthermore, Fundbox raised $200 mln, followed by Airwallex’s $160 mln. Checkout.com, Marqeta and Brex raised $150 mln each during the second quarter of this year, while Aspiration raised $135 mln, followed by the UK’s Starling Bank at $123 mln.

Other notable fintech firms that raised significant amounts include Stash ($112 mln), N26 ($100 mln), Onfido ($100 mln), Bought By Many ($95 mln), Monzo ($75 mln), Trade Republic ($73 mln), SolarisBank ($67 mln), Taxfix ($64 mln), Alan ($55 mln) and Lunar ($50 mln).

“The coronavirus pandemic led to an economic downturn, presenting a perfect opportunity for the fintech sector to explore different opportunities for mass adoption. Most specifically, the pandemic resulted in a change in consumer behaviour that might stick around for a long time,” the authors of the report concluded.

The research also showed that the market capitalisation of payment companies rose significantly from the end of the first quarter to the second quarter this year.

PayPal had a market cap of $112.3 bln on March 31 and three months later it stood at $92.3 bln totalling to $204.6 bln.

Shopify has the second-highest cap at $48.8 bln as of March 31, a figure that increased to $64.5 bln three months later. By the end of the first quarter, Adyen had a market cap of $25.5 bln, dropping to $18.6 bln in the second quarter.

At the end of March, Square had a market cap of $22.8 bln and by the end of the second quarter, the figure stood at $23.3 bln. In the fifth spot was MarketAxess which had a cap of $12.6 bln which later increased to $19 bln at the end of the second quarter.