Global FinTech investment soared in 2016 to 17.4 billion dollars, an 11% increase from the previous year. The interesting comparison came between the leaders, U.S. and China, with 6.2 billion dollars for 650 deals and 7.7 billion dollars for 28 deals respectively. I believe this distinction is something worth exploring about the two countries. The most reasonable explanation is that U.S. investors are more willing to invest at early stages in the FinTech startups for less money initially. This strategy offers greater risks and greater rewards for the daring investors that choose to take this route.
Ant Financial led all firms with a massive 4.3 billion dollar venture round, the largest in history. This high valuation can most likely be attributed to the many acquisitions and the announcement of the company’s large debt fund. It was also interesting to see the heavy impact that Brexit had on markets, resulting in a 34% decline in FinTech investment.
All in all, this article had promising results when reflecting on the 2016 FinTech investments further illustrating its trending value. When selecting an article, I was wavering between this article regarding the noteworthy investments increase and another article that discouraged anyone thinking of starting a FinTech startup. The drastic differences in the two articles showed the varying opinions surrounding FinTech and, furthermore, the risk/reward associated.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lawrencewintermeyer/2017/02/17/global-fintech-vc-investment-soars-in-2016/#27b2c5ad434a