UK FinTech firms attracted $37.3 billion worth of investment in 2021 according to KPMG.

The UK’s share of FinTech funding exceeded any other region in EMEA, where overall funding grew to a record $77 billion in 2021 according to the Big Four accountancy firm.

KPMG said over 600 deals were finalised in the UK in 2021, up from 470 the year before.

Total FinTech funding worldwide hit $210 billion across every sector according to KPMG, over a record 5,684 deals.

Payments dominated the global FinTech investment landscape according to the firm, accounting for $51.7 billion worth of investment across 777 deals, which it says was fuelled by the demand for alternative payments models like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL).

These payments industry deals included the $9.2 million acquisition of Denmark-based FinTech Nets by Mastercard and the $2.7 billion acquisition of Japan-based payments firm Paidy by Paypal.

Other FinTech sectors achieved strong levels of investment, including RegTech, which attracted $9.9 billion of investment across 312 deals according to KPMG.

This included the $2.7 billion acquisition of Canadian-based RegTech firm Verafin and the $600 million buyout of Ireland-based RegTech firm Fenergo.

In addition, global investment in blockchain and cryptocurrencies exceeded $30 billion in 2021 according to KPMG - shattering the previous high of $8.2 billion set in 2018 and rising more than five times compared to the $5.5 billion in investment seen in 2020.

“Investment in the payments space continues to boom, both in mature markets like the US and UK - and in emerging markets like Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia,” said Courtney Trimble, global head of payments at KPMG International. “Throughout 2021, there’s been an extraordinarily high level of venture capital investment due to the nature of the global economic recovery combined with the digital transformation that has been accelerated by Covid-19.”

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