Pulse of Fintech H2

Global highlights of H2’25

Fintech rebounded in 2025 after three consecutive years of decline

Global fintech investment increased in 2025 from $95.5 billion to $116 billion, even as deal volume dropped for the fourth year in a row to an eight-year low of 4,719. Activity softened in the second half, totaling $56.3 billion across 2,169 deals, down from $59.7 billion across 2,550 in the first half.

In 2025, the Americas led global fintech investment, raising $66.5 billion across 2,409 deals. The US accounted for a significant share, with $56.6 billion from 1,977 deals. In comparison, the EMEA region attracted $29.2 billion across 1,484 deals, and the ASPAC region received $9.3 billion across 763 deals. These figures show the Americas significantly outpacing other regions in both total investment and deal count.

Download the report

Dave Remue

Head of Fintech | Advisory

KPMG in Belgium

mail
call

Global investment in digital assets nearly doubled in 2025, and interest is most likely to continue in 2026

2025 was a banner year for digital assets, as total global investment nearly doubled from $11.2 billion to $19.1 billion, though it remained below the $32.2 billion record from 2021. The momentum is expected to continue into 2026 due to increasing regulatory certainty, including the US GENIUS Act and full enforcement of MiCA in the EU, with UK regulation expected by 2027.

The sector saw a significant number of digital assets-focused startups raising large VC funding rounds and mature firms holding successful IPO exits, or announcing plans to do so. Noteworthy was the creation of the Amsterdam-based Qivalis, a consortium backed by leading European banks, including KBC, ING, and BNP Paribas, to launch a euro stablecoin in 2026.

As 2026 approaches, many companies aim to gain scale and outpace rivals. Corporate interest in stablecoins surged in 2025, directly and via consortia. Asset tokenization, especially of money market funds and, to a lesser extent, real estate, also grew. Keyrock, bridging traditional finance and tokenized assets, secured extra funding in March 2026 and became Belgium’s newest unicorn.

Few fintech deals occurred in Belgium, but structural developments actively shifted the country toward a selective recovery

Fintech and payments investment in Belgium and Benelux rebounded from a funding “winter” into a more selective recovery in late 2025 and early 2026. Capital is now flowing to fewer, stronger B2B fintech, infrastructure, and AI-enabled financial services rather than consumer apps.

In H2’25, there were relatively few “headline” Belgian fintech deals, but a cluster of important product and regulatory developments in payments and digital finance.

Starting in October 2025, the EU required banks to process euro instant credit transfers within 10 seconds. Payment service providers (PSPs) operating in the euro zone must now offer verification of payee (VoP) services for all SEPA credit transfers to help customers combat fraud and accidental payments.

The European Payment Initiative (EPI) upgraded its Wero payment solution for 46 million European users, extending functionality from instant peer-to-peer transfers to e-commerce, led by merchants in Germany. By the end of 2026, EPI counted more than 1,100 bank and acquirer members.

The mandatory introduction of electronic invoicing via the Peppol network in Belgium in January 2026 has increased demand for B2B tools that further streamline finance operations. Examples include the accounting platform Odoo collaborating with Stripe and Mastercard to release a new expense card to simplify business spending for its platform users.

In December 2025, Belgium enacted legislation to implement MiCA’s requirements, officially appointing the FSMA and NBB as competent authorities to authorize and supervise crypto asset service providers (CASPs). The new law created legal certainty and spurred KBC Bank to introduce bank-grade crypto services in January 2026.

Global investment in digital assets nearly doubles in 2025

2025 was a banner year for digital assets, with total global investment nearly doubling from $11.2 billion to $19.1 billion year-over-year. While total investment fell shy of the record $32.2 billion seen in 2021, the current momentum is expected to continue into 2026 — driven by increasing regulatory certainty, including the passing of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in the US and the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulations (MiCA) coming into full force in the EU at the end of 2024, and regulation expected in the UK by 2027.

The sector saw a significant number of digital assets focused startups raising large VC funding rounds and mature firms holding successful IPO exits — or announcing plans to do so. Headed into 2026, many of these companies are expected to focus on gaining scale to get ahead of the competition. Interest in stablecoins also saw a significant surge in 2025 as corporates entered the space both directly and through consortiums. Asset tokenization, particularly of money market funds, but also of assets like real estate — also saw increasing interest.

Across EMEA, we’re seeing incumbents actively seek fintech partners to strengthen capabilities in areas like fraud prevention, payments, and AI. As banks modernize their infrastructure and strive to keep pace with fast-moving digital players, fintechs offering advanced technology and operational speed are attracting strong strategic interest.

Dave Remue

Head of Fintech

KPMG in Belgium

Fintech segments

Payments sector sees smaller number of bigger deals in 2025

Investment in the global payments sector was relatively flat year-over year, with $19.2 billion in investment in 2025 compared to $20.4 billion in 2024. Deal volume dropped more noticeably over the same time period from 655 deals to a nine-year low of 542. The decline in deal value reflects a shift toward selectivity, with investors in the payments space increasingly concentrating their capital on large, scaling companies with proven fundamentals over higher-risk early-stage companies. A $3 billion VC raise by UK-based financial services platform Revolut was the largest transaction in the payments space in H1’25, followed by India-based payments app PhonePe’s $600 million VC raise³.

Insurtech investment rises to $8.6 billion — far exceeding 2024

After falling to a more than ten-year low of $2.9 billion in 2024, total global investment in insurtech bounced back to $8.6 billion in 2025 — similar to the level of investment seen in 2023, if substantially lower than the record high of $15.9 billion seen in 2019. Deal volume remained soft, falling slightly year-over-year to a ten-year low of 291 deals in 2025.

The large uptick in Insurtech investment was driven largely by two significant outlier deals: the $2.6 billion acquisition of US-based SMB digital insurance company Next Insurance by Ergo — a part of Munich Re — in H1’25⁴ and the $2.5 billion take private of Israel-based SaaS insurance services company Sapiens International Corporation by PE firm Advent in H2’25.⁵

Cybersecurity investment falls to seven-year low in 2025

Both total global investment in fintech-focused cybersecurity startups and the number of fintech-focused cybersecurity deals fell to seven-year lows in 2025 — with just $700 million invested across 72 deals, compared to $890 million across 93 deals in 2024.

VC raises accounted for the vast majority of fintech-focused cybersecurity deals during 2025, led by the $340 million raise by US-based digital identity verification firm ID.me in H2’25⁶. Other cybersecurity deals were much smaller in size; the largest raises in H2’25 included a $75 million raise by Portugal-based fraud detection-focused RiskOps platform Feedzai⁷, a $25 million raise by Czech Republic-based fraud detection platform Resistant AI,⁸ and a $20 million raise by Israel-based AI-driven identity authentication firm Glide Identity.⁹

Global investment in digital assets and currencies surges in H2'25

After two very slow years, the digital assets space saw total investment globally nearly double year-over-year — rising from $11.2 billion across 1,584 deals in 2024 to $19.1 billion across 1,199 deals in 2025.

While total investment remained lower than totals seen in 2021 ($32.2 billion) and 2022 ($25.3), the current momentum is expected to build heading into 2026, driven by regulatory certainty — particularly in the US, rapidly growing interest and investment in stablecoins, and growing participation in the sector by traditional corporates.

Regtech deal volume rises year-over-year, but deals values remains small

While total investment in regtech declined in value from $6.8 billion in 2024 to $4.9 billion in 2025, the total number of deals increased from 431 deals to 519 in 2025.

The vast majority of investments over the course of the year were quite modest; during H2’25, the largest deals were the $180 million VC raise by US-based finance compliance platform AppZen,¹⁰ and the $147 million VC raise by Netherlands-based bitcoin vault company Treasury¹¹.

After record year in 2024, investment in Wealthtech falls in 2025

After rising to a record $4.9 billion on the back of a number of outlier deals in 2024, total global investment in wealthtech fell to a three-year low of $1.4 billion in 2025 despite steady deal volume year-over-year. The slowdown in investment likely reflects a combination of factors, including the lack of emergent use cases in the sector and the rapidly shifting focus of many fintech investors — particularly corporates — towards the red-hot AI sector.

During H2’25, the largest wealthtech deal was the Toronto-based money management fintech Wealthsimple, who secured $538 million in an equity funding round co-led by Dragoneer Investment Group and GIC,¹² while the other deal sizes were quite modest — led by a $64 million early VC raise by India-based Neo Asset Management,¹³ and a $38 million PE growth investment in US-based turnkey asset management platform GeoWealth,¹⁴

Investor confidence in AI funding strengthened

AI was a major investment trend in 2025 — well beyond the fintech space. Year-over-year, investment in AI-driven fintech companies rose from $12.1 billion to $16.8 billion, while the number of deals grew from 1,183 to 1,334.

Corporates were particularly active in the AI space — with a major focus on solutions able to drive operational efficiencies and improvements in existing processes. While total investment was strong, the majority of investment occurred in the broader AI space, with many corporates choosing to partner directly with the large tech and AI players.

Looking ahead

Globally, the sentiment toward 2026 is cautiously optimistic. The combination of stronger exit markets, greater regulatory clarity, including around digital assets, and ongoing technological innovation provides a constructive basis for further investment. At the same time, risks remain, including geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic uncertainty, and valuation questions for AI-driven companies.