February fintech VC roundup: Fintech funding hits lowest levels since May

After kicking off the year with a $10.6 billion bang in January, fintech funding dipped this month.

That’s not to say VCs and investors have abandoned the sector entirely — investor sentiment was still fairly strong last month, with Dealroom recording $9.5 billion in fundraising for fintech.

The last time funding went below $10 billion in a month was back in May 2021 when fintech attracted $9.4 billion worth of investor capital. It’s likely too early to say, however, whether this is a momentary blip or a sign of a wider trend in fintech. 

Whilst funding overall may have decreased, fintech is still generating mega-rounds. A monster $1.4 billion went into investment platform FNZ and BNPL firm ScalaPay raised close to half a billion dollars. 

Read on to find out more about fintech raising in February.

Payments

While financial management and wealthtech outshone payments last month, payments firms still attracted $1.8 billion. 

Payments processing fintech GoCardless raised a $312 million Series G round led by Permira. BlackRock Private Equity Partners also participated in the round. 

African fintech Flutterwave, a company that facilitates cross-border payments to SMEs via one API, raised a $250 million Series D, valuing the company at $3 billion. This makes it the most valuable startup on the continent. 

ChargeBee, a subscription and revenue management platform, raised $250 million in a round led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital. 

Nigeria’s PalmPay raised $100 million in Series A financing. The company offers payment services to merchants via its PalmPartner app. 

Filipino B2B payments company Paymongo.com raised a $31 million Series B round. The fintech targets SMEs to enable them to accept different payment methods such as credit cards and digital wallets. 

Wealthtech

Last month, investors sunk $2.2 billion into wealthtech firms.  

FNZ, the wealth management platform for financial advisors, raised $1.4 billion in a round led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Motive Partners. This values the company at over $20 billion. 

Genesis, a low-code platform for the financial markets, raised $200 million in a round led by Tiger Global. The company chose not to disclose its valuation. 

PrimaryBid, an investment platform that aims to open up investment into IPOs for the everyday consumer, raised $190 million. The Series C round was led by SoftBank. 

In a round led by Lightspeed Ventures, NYC’s Pontera raised $80 million in financing last month. The fintech firm enables financial advisors to manage the pension accounts of their clients. 

London’s Sharegain, a fintech company that seeks to democratize the securities lending industry, raised a $64 million Series B led by WestCap. 

Financial management 

Pine Labs, an all-in-one financial platform for merchants, raised $150 million in a round led by Alpha Wave Global. This valued the fintech firm at $5 billion.

SME digital financing platform Funding Societies raised a $144 million funding round led by SoftBank. The Singapore-based company mainly focuses on SMEs based in Indonesia. 

China’s Fenbeitong, a corporate spending startup, tapped a $140 million Series C led by DST Global. The company is now valued at over a billion dollars. 

Lightspeed Venture Partners led a $100 million investment into corporate expenses startup Payhawk. This valued the company at $1 billion, minting the first unicorn founded in Bulgaria. 

Check, a company that creates payroll-as-a-service APIs, raised $75 million in a round led by payments giant Stripe. 

Banking and banking-as-a-service 

February saw banking-as-a-service take a backseat as neobanks took the majority of the funding. 

Brazilian neobank Neon raised $300 million in a funding round led by Spanish banking group BBVA. The fintech firm serves SMEs and the self-employed in the country with free checking accounts, cards and specialized loan products. 

Singapore’s Tonik, a fintech company that claims it’s the first digital-only bank in Southeast Asia, raised $131 million in Series B financing led by Japanese bank Mizuho. 

Berlin-based challenger bank and crypto investment platform Vivid Money has raised $114 million in Series C financing at an $886 million valuation. It plans to use the extra dosh to expand across all of Europe. 

NiYO Solutions, a consumer neobank based in Indian startup hub Bangalore raised $100 million in a round led by Accel and Lightrock. 

UK neobank Atom has raised more than $100 million in a round led by BBVA and investment manager Toscafund. This values the challenger bank at $590 million and is a step towards its IPO, according to the company. 

Lending 

After taking a backseat in January, BNPL is back with a bang in February with monster raises from ScalaPay and Akulaku. 

Italian BNPL player ScalaPay raised a mammoth $497 million from Chinese investor Tencent. This follows its $155 million Series A round led by Tiger Global in September last year. 

Spotter, a lending platform that facilitates funding for creators and influencers, raised a $200 million Series D led by SoftBank. This values the firm at $1.7 billion. 

Ireland’s Wayflyer, a revenue-based financing platform for e-commerce companies, raised a $150 million Series B. The round was co-led by DST Global and QED Investors. 

Indonesian BNPL firm Akulaku raised a $100 million Series E led by Thai bank Siam Commercial. At its founding in 2016, the company began as a BNPL service but has since entered the banking space through a local acquisition. 

Julo, another Indonesia-based fintech firm, raised $60 million in Series B funding last month from Credit Saison. It offers p2p loans through an app to its customers.