H1 2024 FINTECH WRAP-UP 🌯
Discover Fintech Wrap-Up, a newsletter about all things Fintech & Insurtech in Europe, by BlackFin Tech.
Welcome back BlackFin Tech enthusiasts!
As AI has transitioned from a fantasy to a form of reality in the tech world, with generative AI starting to become part of everyday use for many and permanently transforming the way people communicate, this newsletter, however, is a product of our human minds 🧠💆
Our ambition remains the same: to give you, from our daily interactions with fintech and insurtech entrepreneurs, an overview of what happened for European fintech in the past few months, and what lies ahead of us.
📊 WHAT SHAPED EUROPEAN FINTECH IN 2024
When it comes to deal funding - and deal funding only - things got brighter this semester compared to 2023:
In H1 2024, European fintechs raised €3.8Bn (+14% compared to H1 2023);
There were 240 fundraisings in this year’s first semester, whereas the first half of 2023 saw nearly double that number of deals (401);
Roughly speaking: less deals, but more money raised by fintechs this semester!
Geography-wise, and without any surprise, the UK dominates last semester’s fundraisings, with 89 deals and 44% of the total of amounts raised by fintechs. Germany has slightly overtaken France by 4 deals and €53m, as we witness a surge in the Nordics (15 deals in Denmark, 10 deals in Sweden) in H1 2024.
In terms of sectors, Banktech continues to attract the majority of deals and raised capital, followed by Payments, Insurtech and Crypto.
Confirming our initial observation, both the average and median funding amounts increased last semester, rising from €9.2m in 2023 to €16.4m in 2024 (average) and from €3.1m in 2023 to €5.3m in 2024 (median).
What are the first semester 10 biggest rounds?
The top 10 deals often embody the trends of the period:
Bigger deals, with 3 deals over €100m (Monzo’s 2 funding rounds, Pigment’s fundraising and Finn’s Series C);
The UK concentrates half of the 10 biggest deals;
The 5 biggest deals belong to Banktech, they are followed by 2 Payments fintechs.
🍳 WHAT WE SHAPED AT BLACKFIN TECH
Portfolio news
🇪🇪 In February, Tuum raised a €25m Series B to spearhead a banking revolution with agile and expansive solutions
🇩🇰 In March, we led Formalize’s €15m Series A to become Europe’s leading compliance software
🇩🇪 In June, Hawk:AI - who rebranded as Hawk now that “banks ask ‘when‘ and ‘how‘ they should implement AI, rather than 'if'“ - extended its Series B with Rabobank and Mcquarie joining as investors as a sign of the increasing interest of banks in Hawk 🚀
Team news
🤗 In March, Chloé came back from Mexico to join us as an Investment Manager. Welcome Chloé!
Prior to joining BlackFin, Chloé had been living for more than 4 years in Mexico where she was investing from pre-seed to Series B in Fintech. Her latest role in Mexico was to set-up the Mexico and Spanish-Speaking Latin America strategy for Hedosophia, a fintech-focused global VC. Chloé holds a master's in management from HEC Paris, where she specialized in Entrepreneurship and Deep Technology.
🍾 In May, we hosted an Insurtech dinner in London and our traditional rooftop party in Paris!
☕ RESHAPING FINANCE. TOGETHER.
Let’s meet after summer break ☀️
🇬🇧 Goldman Sachs EMEA Fintech conference (Sept 11th, London) —> meet Loic
🇩🇪 BEX of Change (Sept 18-19th, Frankfurt) —> meet Romain
🇩🇰 Nordic Fintech Week (Sept 24-25th, Copenhagen) —> meet Zara
🇳🇱 Invest Europe VC Forum (Sept 25-26th, Amsterdam) —> meet Julien
🇩🇪 Bits & Pretzels (Sept 29-Oct 1rd, Munich) —> meet Nathalie
🇬🇧 JP Morgan Tech Stars Conference (Oct 9-10th) —> meet Zara
🇫🇷 Fintech Revolution (Oct 17th, Paris) —> meet Julien and Maxime
Meanwhile, we wish you a resourceful summer ☀️🍸