Innovate Finance reports 2021 as a record-breaking year for UK FinTech

By Joy Dumasia

Innovate Finance, the industry body representing UK FinTech, today publishes details of the record-breaking investment secured across the UK FinTech sector during the first six months of 2021. The UK FinTech sector raised $5.7bn in H1 2021, outstripping the total investment secured in 2020 ($4.3bn) by 34% and breaking the record year set in 2019 ($4.6bn) by 26%.

SaltPay and Checkout.com attracted the two largest deals made this year and are amongst the largest fundraises in the UK FinTech sector so far, with $500 million and $450 million, respectively. Payment technology firms including SaltPay, Checkout.com, Rapyd ($300m), PPRO Financial ($180m), DNA Payments ($140m) and PaySend ($125m) dominated the charts with the most significant investments. Challenger bank Starling Bank ($376m), crypto trading platform Blockchain.com ($300m), pension and payroll providers Smart Pension ($230m) and PayFit ($107m) and credit-scoring specialist ClearScore ($200m) also secured significant investments to support their growth. 

According to Innovate Finance today, the UK is second only to the US (940 deals and $26.7bn) in terms of funds raised and well ahead of the levels secured by Brazil (40 deals and $3bn), Germany (56 deals and $2.5bn) and India (132 deals and $2.2bn) during the same period. The solid H1 investment figures come off the back of the Kalifa Review from the first half of the year, which set out recommendations for the sector’s future growth and provided a roadmap to ensure long-term, sustained investment. The start of the year has also seen an increasing number of UK FinTechs announce Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and unveil plans to list their business on public markets.  

Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, commented: “This analysis clearly demonstrates that the appetite among international investors to fund high-growth, innovative firms has never been greater, and is a testament to the UK’s position as a world leader in FinTech. FinTech is one of the fastest-growing sectors of our economy and has a vital role to play in the UK’s economic and business recovery. To have secured record funding – in just six months – speaks to an enduring confidence in UK innovation, as well as our ability to build and scale world-class businesses.”