U.S. fintech investing remained cautious in Q1

U.S.-based fintech investments and deal activity saw a small uptick in the first quarter of 2017, as global investments held mostly steady from last year. That’s according to the first quarter 2017 edition of KPMG International’s “Pulse of Fintech” report.

VC investment in fintech nationwide increased to $1.2 billion in Q1, up slightly from $1.1 billion in the last quarter of 2016, while deal activity also increased. That was driven largely by an increase of late-stage venture deals, which reached their highest level since the first quarter of 2016.

Worldwide, venture capital funding to fintech dropped slightly, while private equity investment ticked up.

The numbers continue a cooling trend that started in 2016, when total fintech investment in the U.S. dropped from $27 billion in 2015 to $12.8 billion in 2016. In the first quarter of this year, total fintech investments, including U.S.-based VC, private equity deals and M&A transactions, reached $1.5 billion combined across 124 deals.

San Francisco-based SoFi led the top fintech deals in the first quarter, raising $453 million in a Series G round. (See data table below.)

Despite the restrained investing, the report anticipates that fintech investments in the U.S. will increase in Q2, given the amount of dry powder in the market and signs that the Trump administration may delay tax policy changes until 2018.

Action Item: Read the full report by visiting http://bit.ly/2p1o2v5

Download Data: Top 5 fintech transactions (Q1 2017)

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