Perhaps by necessity, perhaps by nature, the financial sector is seeing the growth of technology companies that aim to bring about a profound change in the way finance is managed. In 2012, the number of transactions in the fintech sector increased by 20% and the total amount invested by 22%. This trend is continuing in 2013.
$9.03Bn invested in 1,314 companies since 2008
Over the last 5 years investment in the Fintech sector has seen significant growth in activity, from $900M in 150 companies in 2008 to its highest level in 2012 with a total of almost 400 deals and $2,200M of investment.
Since 2008, 4 investors have made more than 10 investments in the sector. SVangel and the accelerator 500startups lead the ranking with 15 operations, in third place is Accel Partners with 12 and in fourth place the reference Andreessen Horowitz with 11.
More than 40% of the financing went to companies dedicated to providing solutions related to payment management. On the other hand, the fastest growing segments were personal finance and data analytics, which accounted for 14% and 19% respectively in 2012.
Early stage investments (angel and seed) reached 53% in 2012 and have grown by 12% compared to 2008 levels. Also in 2013, early stage investment continued to be significant with 48% of deals.
"As a consequence of the growth of investment in earlier stage companies, the median amount has decreased significantly from $$6.5M in 2008 to $$2M in 2012. This trend is consolidating across the venture capital landscape in both the US and Spain" analyses Diego Gutierrez, corporate finance expert at Abra Invest.
2013 also saw significant transactions
Despite the intense activity in 2012, 2013 also saw some very significant venture capital financings. These included, most notably, the growth transaction in Mr. Labs by $53M, the D-series financing in OnDeck by $42M, Series B funding in Credit Karma for $30M and seed capital in Clinkle by $25M.
"In Spain we have also seen some activity in recent years, from the p2plending Comunitae.comthe social network for investors Unience the investment tool Impok or personal financial management Fintonic. They are also being accompanied by several accelerator initiatives, such as the Bbva innovation centre or that of the Institutes for Stock Market Studies (IEB)"says Diego Gutierrez.