Payments power VC fintech funding to $29.3bn in Q1

Payment companies made up nearly a third of the $29.3bn VC investment in fintech in Q1, growing over 12 per cent in the quarter, according to new data.

Checkout.com’s $1bn mammoth fundraise marked the biggest fintech fundraise in the quarter while other significant payment deals in Q1 include Qonto’s $549.8m deal, Bolt Financial's $355m raise, GoCardless’s $312m funding and a $300m raise by Brex.

The overall $29.3bn raised by fintechs across 1,233 deals in the quarter was down 7.3 per cent on the quarter but up 13.8 per cent on the year, according to global data from PitchBook.

"Payments companies continue to lead the largest portion of deal value, at $9.1 billion, representing 12.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth,” PitchBook said.

“Alternative lending also had a strong quarter, with some of the largest deals in the segment going to fintech companies outside of the US.”

Notable alternative lender raises in the quarter included Singapore-based fintech Funding Society raising $294m, Brazil-based consumer lender Creditas raising $260m and UK-based Oakbrook Finance raising $189.2m.

On the flip side, VC investment in consumer finance and financial services IT fintechs fell 40.8 per cent and 72.7 per cent respectively in the quarter.

The data also show the median pre-money valuation for VC-backed, late-stage fintech firms upped 44.4 per cent to $257.7m over the year, the highest step on record.

Early-stage median pre-money valuations also continued to increase, surging 57.5 per cent to $63m, also the highest on record.