Global venture funding to fintech startups totalled USD 12 billion across 751 deals in 2026 as of April 6, registering a 5% increase, compared to the USD 11.4 billion raised across 1,097 (or 31.5% fewer) deals during the same time period in 2025. Deal sizes, on the other hand, have been bigger this time around, with late-stage or growth funding in the Q1 totalling USD 6.9 billion, up 8% compared to USD 6.4 billion raised at those stages in the same period in 2025.

“However, sequentially, the USD 12 billion raised is down 33% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, when fintech startups raised USD 17.8 billion globally. The USD 6.9 billion raised in late-stage or growth funding is also down markedly — by 43% — compared to the USD 12.1 billion raised by fintech startups in Q4 2025. The trend in the first quarter also mirrors what we saw in 2025 as a whole, with global venture funding to fintech startups climbing to its highest level in several quarters, boosted by later-stage deals,” Crunchbase reported.

Total global funding to VC-backed financial technology startups totalled USD 53.8 billion in 2025, a 29.3% increase from 2024’s total of USD 41.6 billion raised. American startups, when it comes to beating their peers in the other parts of the world, in terms of raising more funding, continued the trend in the Q1 2026 as well, as out of the USD 12 billion raised globally, just over half (or USD 6.3 billion) flowed to the fintech sector based in the world’s largest economy.

It was a spectacular 47% increase compared to the USD 4.3 billion raised by US fintech startups in Q1 2025. However, it was down 50% from the USD 12.6 billion that the sector raised in Q4 2025.

The United Kingdom was the second-largest recipient of venture capital, with startups in the European country raising a total of USD 1.2 billion. With USD 900 million, India took the third position.

“Several fintech startups raised nine-figure rounds in the first quarter, with some doubling their valuations since their last venture financings. Predictions marketplace Kalshi was the largest recipient of capital in the first quarter. In March, the company doubled its valuation to USD 22 billion in just three months with a $1 billion raise led by Coatue. The New York-based startup had just raised USD 1 billion in Series E funding at an USD 11 billion valuation in December,” the Crunchbase report remarked.

In February, digital savings platform Vestwell raised USD 385 million in a Series E funding round co-led by Blue Owl Capital and Sixth Street Growth. This took the New York-based startup’s valuation to USD 2 billion, double the USD 1 billion valuation it achieved in December 2023. Rain, which is building infrastructure for payments with stablecoins, raised USD 250 million in a Series C funding round led by Iconiq Capital. Its post-money valuation was USD 1.95 billion, up by 17 times from March 2025.

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Investors such as EDBI, White Star Capital and Jungle Ventures participated in the funding round for Sleek. According to the startup, it will also use the funds to hire new talent, expand its presence in the existing markets and also enter new markets.

Adrien Barthel, chief growth officer and co-founder of Sleek told the media, “Since day one, our mission has been to allow anyone to start a business quickly and easily. With the latest addition of the business account feature, now more than ever, we are enabling ideas to become great businesses, without the friction and inefficiency that paper based and offline processes bring.’

Sleek has developed a back-end operating system platform that handles everything from incorporation, government, accounting, taxes and visas to regulatory compliance.

Sleek manages a portfolio of more than 5,000 companies. In 2020, the startup handled over 1.4 million bookkeeping transactions and recorded around $700 million of revenue.

In November, Sleek revealed that the funding will be used to enter new markets such as Australia and the UK.

Last year, Sleek raised $4 million in venture funding for its efforts to take on the traditional corporate services industry. The funding round was led by SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.

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Investors that participated in the funding round for Matchmove include ZTC Private Markets, Singapura Finance, Vickers Venture Partners, NTT Investment Partners, Iconic World, and V V Pentafond.

After the latest funding round, the company is now valued at $38 million, according to reports.

Matchmove is a banking-as-a-service platform that help companies integrate spending, sending, and lending in their apps or help them build their mobile platforms from the ground up.

Last month, Matchmove launched of its new remittance platform, RemitSend that enables seamless and cost-efficient, cross-border Business to Business (B2B) remittances for businesses of all sizes.

With regard to the launch, Amar Abrol, Chief Commercial Officer of MatchMove told the media, “We are excited to launch RemitSend by MatchMove, after months of extensive research and speaking to various groups of SMEs. We do understand the challenges and high costs faced by SMEs as they remit across markets.”

“Here at MatchMove, we are committed to meet the existing and evolving needs of SMEs holistically. We see that opportunity in RemitSend by MatchMove to help firms better digitise their remittance capabilities and bring them forward in their digital transformation journey.”

Earlier this year, Matchmove also applied for a digital banking licence in Singapore through a consortium.

In order to apply for the digital banking licence, MatchMove teamed up with Singapura Finance, CP Group-linked Lightnet, and UK-based fintech OpenPayd Holdings.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is set to issue three operational licences in Singapore in a bid to improve financial lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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The funding raised by F88 will be used to help the startup expand its network and branches and at the same time accelerate growth, according to its chief executive officer Phung Anh Tuan.

F88 is focused on providing fast and easy vehicle title loans. The startup also provides other financial services, such as distributing life and non-life insurance, bills payment, mobile money, and ewallet top-ups.

F88 also initiated the commercialisation of pawn services in Vietnam. It currently provides loans on diverse assets such as cars, motorcycles, mobile phones, laptops, and jewelry.

It currently has around 180 pawn outlets in the country.

With regard to the funding in F88, Simon Wagner, managing partner at Granite Oak told the media, “Since our initial investment in 2018, F88’s performance has consistently surpassed our expectations with respect to growth, loan portfolio quality, and profitability. Investing in this (latest) growth equity round was, therefore, an obvious choice for us.”

Established in 2013, the startup was valued at $90.7 million as of 2019.

Online payments in Vietnam has grown by 76 percent between January 25 and mid-March in 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the world to a state of lockdown,  according to statistics from the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS).

The total transaction value has substantially increased by 124 percent during the same period.

To help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, many banks and telecom companies in Vietnam are integrating estores, grocery chains to their payment platforms to help Vietnamese people shop online and stay at home.

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This is Softbank’s third investment in Mexico after raising its $5 billion Innovation Fund for Latin American startups. Also, it reflects SoftBank’s interest to promote new technologies. In August, SoftBank was in advanced talks with Konfio regarding the investment. Recently, SoftBank launched its own blockchain-powered debit cards. 

Konfio was established in 2013. It will use the proceeds to expand working-capital loans to SMBs and introduce new products into the Mexican market. Some of these new products to be launched in the future might include customer credit report analysis for businesses, in addition to expanding its online marketplace Konsiento. 

Konsiento is where businesses can look for legal services, office supplies and web designers. The platform is still in its nascent stages of development. 

Previously, Konfio had raised $300 million in capital and credit lines. It aims to ease financing for SMEs in the country as many of them struggle with traditional banking owing to heavy fees and bureaucracy, the local media reported. 

“We consider ourselves a tech company that’s focused on resolving one of the biggest problems for [SMBs], which is access to credit,” Director of Corporate Strategy & Investor Relations Gregorio Tomassi, told Bloomberg. “We grant quick loans based on technology, alternative data sources, artificial intelligence and data science.”

SoftBank continues to expand its Mexican investment portfolio with other startups such as Kavak and Clip. Kavak is a used car purchasing platform, while Clip is a payments startup. 

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Neon plans to triple the number of customers next year. Currently, the startup has two million active accounts, according to the local media report. 

Venture capitalists including Quona Capital, Propel Venture Partners, Omidyar Network and Monashees participated in the funding. The funding has raised Neon’s total valuation to more than $121 million, according to Crunchbase data. 

“Most of the capital will go to hiring people, especially in technology,” Pedro Conrade, co-founder of the company, said in an interview with the state. In May 2018, Neon had a $22 million funding. It was San Francisco-based and fintech-focused Propel Venture Partners’ first investment outside of the US. 

Propel had considered its investment in Neon as a ‘fintech revolution’ that is taking place in Brazil. This is because Brazil is widely known for high interest rates and limited banking options for customers. 

Also, the startup is targeting new acquisitions. It recently acquired startup MEI Fácil to develop its microenterprise services. The next challenge for the startup is to expand its presence in Brazil, outside its major entrepreneurship hubs. 

In the past year, Neon’s revenue grew nine-fold but its cash flow is not fully positive. With that, the company aims to increase the pace of cash flow and sustain its growth in the Brazilian market. 

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