Financial institutions M&A: Sector trends - September 2025
Financial Services M&A: Sector Trends
We highlight the key EU and European M&A trends in H2 2024 and H1 2025, and provide our insights into the outlook for M&A going forward.
Introduction
In the 13th edition of our report, we bring you the key deal highlights and M&A trends across UK/Europe in the past 12 months which have shaped the financial services landscape. Focusing on the following verticals:
Fintech: Fragility of private and public capital fundraising markets drives consolidation activity.
Asset/Wealth Management: M&A landscape remains consistently hot—private equity drives mergers-of-equals and turbocharges trade consolidation in the last 12 months.
Payments: While Global Payments' US$24.25 billion acquisition of Worldpay from FIS and FIS's US$13.5 billion response acquisition of Global Payments' issuer solutions have dominated headlines, the sheer volume of deals in the payments space speaks for itself.
Financial Market Infrastructure: Mega private equity buy-outs shape Europe's FMI landscape—KKR seeks to emulate Blackstone's Refinitiv success through acquisition of OSTTRA.
Brokers/Corporate Finance: It's all about the people—M&A activity centres around acquiring sector expertise, client relationships and local market knowledge.
Consumer Finance: Is anyone talking about anything other than Klarna's long-awaited US equity debut?
Specialty Finance/Marketplace Lending: Complexity of deal-making has materially increased in the last 12 months. Debt, in the form of warehouses, revolvers and notes, often plays a pivotal role even in "vanilla" deals.
While Global Payments' US$24.25 billion acquisition of Worldpay from FIS and FIS's US$13.5 billion response acquisition of Global Payments' issuer solutions have dominated headlines, the sheer volume of deals in the payments space speaks for itself.
Complexity of deal-making has materially increased in the last 12 months. Debt, in the form of warehouses, revolvers and notes, often plays a pivotal role even in "vanilla" deals.
3 reasons why fintech M&A activity remains high, notwithstanding clear signs of private capital fragility:
Banks emerge as Europe's heaviest consumers of technology: Voracious appetite of traditional lenders to acquire, partner with and invest in new technology.
Fintech ecosystem inches closer to maturity: >70 significant acquisitions by UK / European fintechs in the last 12 months, an increase of 50% by volume (compared to the previous 12 months).
Fundraising activity: Fintechs with UAE and / or U.S. presence buck the trend of declining success in funding rounds.
Although the UK has retained its European crown in attracting growth capital, we continue to see reduced funding round deal volume. But what has been lost in fundraising appetite has been more than compensated in consolidation activity.
Hardly a surprise—"traditional" banks emerge as the heaviest consumers of technology in the last 12 months:
Direct equity investments in "tried and tested" fintech (e.g., HSBC's investments in Token.io and ClearScore)
Venture fund investments in "wait and see" fintech (e.g., Lloyds' and Nationwide's equity investment in Aveni and Deutsche Bank CVC's equity investment in Aleph Alpha)
Acquisitions of efficiency tools, primarily software (e.g., TBC's and UniCredit's respective acquisitions of BILLZ and Vodeno) and payment solutions (e.g., KCB's, Okto's and Sovcombank's respective acquisitions of Riverbank Solutions, U4C and Rocket fintech platform)
Indirect exposure to distribution channels through large-scale debt funding (e.g., Deutsche Bank's £250 million debt funding for Abound and £50 million securitisation facility for Zilch)
Partnerships with value-accretive technology providers (>45 partnerships inked between established banks and fintechs in the last 12 months)
Collaboration on new technology development (e.g., JP Morgan's blockchain payment collaborations with Qatar National Bank and Saudi National Bank)
Dedicated incubator programmes (e.g., JP Morgan's UK Fintech Forward programme and NatWest's Fintech Growth programme)
Private capital providers favour profitability and sustainable growth over customer acquisition and marketing:
Winners for funding round equity cheques:
Hottest fintech verticals for fundraising activity:
1st | Payments:
Announced fundraisings: >50
SeQura (€410 million)
Dojo (US$190 million)
Melio (US$150 million)
2nd | Consumer Finance & Neobanking:
Announced fundraisings: >10
MNT-Halan (US$157.5 million)
CloudPay (US$120 million)
Zopa (£80 million)
3rd | DLT:
Announced fundraisings: c. 10
Binance (US$2 billion)
Sygnum (US$58 million)
BVNK (US$50 million)
4th | SME Lending:
Announced fundraisings: c. 10
Finom (€115 million)
Flow48 (US$69 million)
Lenkie (£49 million)
5th | Open Banking:
Announced fundraisings: <10
Solaris (€140 million)
TrueLayer (US$50 million)
BKN301 (€21.5 million)
6th | Trading & Data Analytics:
Announced fundraisings: >5
Boom Technologies (US$500 million)
Scalable Capital (€155 million)
9fin (US$50 million
Financial sponsors prefer RegTech (e.g., CPPIB's and Silversmith's respective equity investments in Regnology and Novatus) and payment service providers (e.g., Vitruvian's, Renew's and Toscafund's respective equity investments in Dojo, NjiaPay and CellPoint Digital) as recipients of direct equity funding
Payment service providers (e.g., Towerbrook and J.C. Flowers team up with Railsr for Equals acquisition) and SaaS businesses (e.g., Montagu's, Nordic Capital's and Pollen Street's respective acquisitions of Multifonds, Anaqua and Keylane) get snapped up by financial sponsors
Fintechs mature into inorganic growth mode:
Mergers (>4 mergers-of-equals)
Acquisition of smaller rivals / complementary businesses (>70 significant acquisitions; an increase of 50% by volume compared to the previous 12 months)
Strategic partnerships (>50 significant partnerships; an increase of c. 2× by volume compared to the previous 12 months)
Key drivers
Expanding universe of potential growth capital providers:
Multilateral development banks: focus on mobile banking / lending in developing economies (e.g., IFC's participation in TBC Uzbekistan's and MNT-Halan's respective funding rounds)
Sovereign wealth funds: focus capital on pre-exit / (very) late-stage opportunities (e.g., Mubadala's minority equity acquisition in Revolut and Temasek's participation in Alan's Series F funding round)
Financial market infrastructure: invest in B2B technology (e.g., Boerse Stuttgart's participation in Solaris' Series G funding round)
UHNW / family office: focus on earlier-stage fundraisings (e.g., Oren Zeev's and Amy Banse's respective participations in Anchor's US$20 million Series A funding round and McPike Family Office's participation in Tembo's £14 million Series B funding round)
Mature fintech: secure foreign scale through strategic investments (e.g., LuLu AI's equity investment in PayLater Qatar)
Inorganic growth takes multiple forms:
(Genuine) mergers remain rare (e.g., Radicant & Numarics, Moka & United Payment, Wasoko & MaxAB and MACH & mps)
Unicorns (and aspiring unicorns) gallop to dizzying acquisition heights:
Unicorns (and aspiring unicorns) gallop to dizzying acquisition heights:
1st | Payments:
Announced deals: >50
myPOS (acquisition of UTP)
Rapyd (acquisition of PayU)
Payglobe (acquisition of 60% of Moneynet)
2nd | DLT:
Announced deals: >15
Coinbase (acquisition of Deribit)
MoonPay (acquisition of Helio)
Bitewise (acquisition of Attestant)
3rd | Trading & Analytics:
Announced deals: c. 10
Foconis (acquisition of MACD)
oneZero (acquisition of Autochartist)
Lumera (acquisition of ITM)
Fintechs formalise meetings-of-minds through strategic partnerships:
Hottest fintech verticals for partnership activity in the last 12 months:
1st | Payments:
Announced tie-ups: >30
Zilch / Visa
Wise / Morgan Stanley
Mondu / Payin3
2nd | DLT:
Announced deals: >10
Ripple / Garanti BBVA
Hubpay / Aquanow
Kraken / Mastercard
3rd | Trading & Analytics:
Announced deals: c. 10
Doconomy / KBC
Plumery / Fimple
Tietoevry / Lokalbank
Early entrants execute exits:
Founders (e.g., Nik Storonsky's and Gaetano Giannetto's respective secondaries of Revolut and Epipoli shares)
Financial sponsors (e.g., Tencent's, Waterland's and Inflexion's respective disposals of 14% of Tide, Keylane and ITM)
Banks (e.g., Banca March's disposal of 49% of Inversis)
Established fintechs (e.g., OLX's, Groupon's and Temenos' respective disposals of Kiwi Finance, Giftcloud and Multifonds)
Multilateral development banks (e.g., EBRD's disposal of its stake in Tam Finans)
Trends to watch
Fragility of the fintech ecosystem developing into stress fractures (>5 well-publicised insolvencies and 2 mega group structurings of fintech businesses in last 12 months)
Crypto looks inwards—digital asset broking and trading businesses primarily supported by DLT community (e.g., Coinbase's acquisitions of Deribit and BUX Europe)
Differing national prerogatives across UK & EU:
Glass half full
Embracing new technologies (e.g., UK Financial Conduct Authority's Supercharged Sandbox and Bank of England's Digital Pound Lab)
Government financial backing of fintech (e.g., EIB's commitment to €70 billion in start-up funding by 2027)
Glass half empty
Tighter regulation (e.g., UK Financial Conduct Authority's new rules to protect consumers' money in the event of payment firm insolvency)
More scrutiny on deployment of public funds (e.g., falling tech valuations resulting in the British Business Bank's £122 million FY2024 post-tax loss)
In Q1 2025, the global fintech market saw a steep decline in both deal activity and overall funding. A total of 845 deals were recorded, down 54%. (Fintech Global– June 2025).
UK fintech market investment declines by 37% in 2024. Global fintech investment fell 20% to US$43.5 billion across 6,464 deals. (Innovate Finance–January 2025).
While the U.S. retained its position as the top market – raising US$22 billion – the UK (US$3.6 billion), India (US$2.2 billion) and Singapore (US$1.4 billion) maintained the next 3 positions globally in 2024. (Innovate Finance– January 2025).
In Europe, the UK dominated with US$3.6 billion across 576 deals in 2024. France raised US$1.1 billion from 127 deals, followed by Germany with US$0.9 billion from 149 deals. Smaller markets such as Switzerland (US$0.5 billion) and Netherlands (US$0.4 billion) also contributed. (Innovate Finance–January 2025).
Our M&A forecast
Funding rounds will continue, but as the fintech ecosystem matures even further, corporate reorganisations, bolt-on M&A and, eventually, transformational transactions are inevitable. Those fintechs which embrace the drive for profitability will push through to exit, while those which do not are likely to join the ranks of Zing, Stenn and kevin.
UAE likely to pull ahead of UK and EU member states as a hub of private capital fundraising activity.
Long-awaited green shoots of public market exits start to appear (e.g., Qualco), but allure of U.S. depth likely to continue attracting unicorns (e.g., eToro, Webull, Chime, Circle Internet, etc.).
Fintech – Publicly reported deals & situations
Banks adopt multi-channel approach
Deal highlights:
White & Case advised UniCredit on its acquisition of Vodeno, the Polish banking-as-a-service solutions provider, from Warburg Pincus.
White & Case advised BPCE on the payments joint venture between BPCE Payments and BNP Paribas, operating under the Estreem umbrella.
Market commentary:
There has been a "significant shift" in UK banks' attitude to AI with greater adoption and greater recognition of its benefits (Finextra–October 2024).
CaixaBank plans to invest €5 billion in technology over the next 3 years (Fintech Futures–November 2024).
Bank of Ireland is to invest £100 million over the next 3 years to improve everyday banking products and services (Finextra–January 2025).
Equity investments:
HSBC: Account-to-account open banking payments, Strategic investment in Token.io (June 2025)
UBS, Citi and NatWest: Payments, Participation in funding round in Icon Solutions (June 2025)
NatWest: Credit cards, Minority equity investment in Yonder (April 2025)
Mashreq Bank: BaaS, Participation in US$33 million Series B funding round in NymCard (March 2025)
Deutsche Bank / DWS: Factoring, Participation in £107 million Series A debt and equity funding round in Revving (February 2025)
HSBC: Credit scoring, £30 million growth capital investment in ClearScore (February 2025)
NatWest: AI platform, Minority equity investment in Serene (January 2025)
Dubai Islamic Bank: Technology and media, Acquisition of additional 5% of T.O.M. Group (January 2025)
Citibank: BNPL, Participation in €410 million debt and equity funding round in SeQura (November 2024)
Deutsche Bank: Blockchain-based real-time clearing and settlement, US$20 million equity investment in Partior (November 2024)
Qatar Development Bank: Shariah-compliant investment platform, Equity investment in Wahed (November 2024)
Belfius Bank: InsurTech, Participation in US$193 million Series F funding round in Alan (September 2024)
Standard Chartered: Digital transformation, platform Equity investment in United Fintech (August 2024)
Venture fund investments:
Rabo Investment: ESG investment platform, Participation in €92 million funding round in Shift Invest (July 2025)
SC Ventures: B2B marketplace, Participation in £120 million funding round for Jumbotail (July 2025)
Rabo Investments: Confirmation of payee, Equity investment in SurePay (June 2025)
ABN Ventures: Corporate credit card and financial management, Participation in US$19.8 million debt and equity funding round in Qashio (May 2025)
CommerzVentures: Consumer finance, Participation in US$13 million pre-Series C funding round in MoneyFellows (May 2025)
Deutsche Bank CVC: SaaS, Participation in US$10 million Series A funding round in Kosli (March 2025)
Rabo Investments: SaaS, Equity investment in ThreatFabric (December 2024)
JPMorgan: Launch of UK Fintech Forward program (June 2025)
NatWest: Selection of TunicPay, Ask Silver, mmob, Aperidata and Sprive for NatWest Fintech Growth (February 2025)
Home grown:
Lunar: Crypto, trading Launch of Lunar Block (January 2025)
Standard Chartered: DLT, Launch of Luxembourg digital asset custody service (January 2025)
BBVA: POS platform, Launch of TAMi (November 2024)
HSBC: B2B payments, Launch of HSBC Flexipay (November 2024)
UBS: DLT, Pilot of UBS Digital Cash (November 2024)
Santander: Digital banking, Launch of US digital bank, Openbank (October 2024)
HSBC: DLT, Successful trial of HSBC Gold Token (July 2024)
Standard Chartered: DLT, Launch of UAE digital asset custody service September 2024 (July 2024)
Banking Circle: DLT, Launch of MiCA-compliant stablecoin August 2024 (July 2024)
Deutsche Bank / DWS: DLT, Step towards creating first German-regulated Euro stablecoin (July 2024)
Private capital drives investment activity
Deal highlights:
White & Case advised Nordic Capital on its acquisition of a controlling interest in Anaqua, the Boston-headquartered provider of innovation and intellectual property management technology solutions.
White & Case advised Nordic Capital on a significant minority investment by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in Nordic Capital's portfolio company Regnology, alongside fresh investment by Nordic Capital.
Participation in funding rounds:
Sofina, Noteus Partners, Balderton Capital, Tencent and HV Capital: Investment platform, Participation in €155 million funding round in Scalable Capital (June 2025)
Cusp Capital: Payments, Participation in €10 million funding round in Payflow (June 2025)
Sequoia Capital, Greylock and Quantum Light Ventures: Remittance, Participation in US$53 million Series B funding round in Aspora (June 2025)
Upfin, Bust and Torq Partners: E-commerce software, Participation in US$1.3 million pre-Seed funding round for Ankor (June 2025)
AVP, Headline Growth, General Catalyst, Northzone and Cogito Capital: Financial management, Participation in €115 million Series C funding round in Finom (June 2025)
Rocketship, MITAA, Oneway VC and MoreThan Capital: Corporate credit card and financial management, Participation in US$19.8 million debt and equity funding round in Qashio (May 2025)
BlackFin Capital Partners, PayPal Ventures and Seaya Ventures: Receivables processing, Participation in US$26 million Series C funding round in Aufinity Group (May 2025)
Aern Capital and Falco Capital: Alternative lending, Equity participation in £25 million funding round in Juice (May 2025)
Nclude Fund, Al Mada Ventures and Partech Africa: Consumer finance, Participation in US$13 million pre-Series C funding round in MoneyFellows (May 2025)
Janngo Capital, SANAD Fund for MSMEs, Partech, Oikocredit, Enza Capital and Y Combinator: Neobanking, Participation in US$17 million funding round in Djamo (April 2025)
Partners for Growth: Automotive finance, Provision of £25 million Shariah debt funding to Ayan Capital (April 2025)
Black Fin Capital Partners, IRIS, Asterion Ventures and Ring Capital: ESG SaaS, Participation in €25 million funding round in WeeFin (April 2025)
Black Fin Tech: Fixed income trading infrastructure, Participation in US$25 million Series B funding round in TransFicc (April 2025)
EdenBase, GPOS Investments, Pembroke VCT, Sidebyside and Ingenii VC: Decentralised payments, Participation in £5.7 million Series A funding round in Ryft
Elephant VC and QuantumLight: Payments, Participation in US$78 million Series B funding round in Sipay (April 2025)
QED Investors, Glynn Capital, Flourish Ventures, Norrsken22, Ribbit Capital, PayPal Ventures, The Raba Partnership and Firstminute Capital: Africa payments, Participation in US$55 million Series B funding round in Stitch (April 2025)
SM Capital, Prosus Group, Crif, Abalone Group, CdP Venture Capital, Azimut Libera Impresa, Simest and Alisei Forinvestments: BaaS, Participation in €21.5 million Seed funding round in BKN301 (April 2025)
Fuel Ventures, EWOR and Greyhound Capital: Inter-company balances management through stablecoin, Participation in £2.25 million pre-Seed funding round in Damisa (April 2025)
Korelya Capital and Opera Tech Ventures: BNPL, Participation in €10 million funding round in Hokodo (April 2025)
Incore Invest: Embedded finance, Participation in €20 million Series B funding round in Froda (April 2025)
Jump Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Motive Partners and Unusual Ventures: Payments, Participation in US$41 million Series B funding round in Navro (April 2025)
Ascension, Channel4Ventures, Velocity Capital and Two Magnolias: Mortgage management, Participation in £5.5 million funding round in Sprive (April 2025)
Illuminate Financial, Speedinvest, PayPal Ventures and Motive Ventures: Corporate credit cards, Participation in US$40 million Series B funding round in Pliant (April 2025)
Bain Capital Ventures: Cross-currency management, Participation in US$33 million Series A funding round in Grain
Project A, Northzone and Seedcamp: Payments, Participation in US$8.5 million funding round in Mimo
Heavybit, Defined Capital and Transpose Platform: SaaS, Participation in US$10 million Series A funding round in Kosli
QED Investors, Lunate, Dubai Future District Fund, Knollwood, Reciprocal, FJLabs, Shorooq, Endeavor and Oraseya Capital: BaaS, Participation in US$33 million Series B funding round in NymCard (March 2025)
Hanaco Ventures, Fuel Ventures, IDC and Outward VC: Payments, Participation in £37 million investment round in Curve (March 2025)
Norwest Venture Partners, Galaxy Ventures, Goldcrest and Thayer: Crypto cards, Participation in US$24.5 million funding round in Rain (March 2025)
Mouro Capital, Anthemis and Portfolio Ventures: Payments, Participation in £5 million Seed funding round in Burbank (March 2025)
Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital: Embedded payments, Participation in US$6.75 million Seed funding round in enza (March 2025)
Partech and Varsity: Wealth Tech, Participation in €18 million Series A funding round in RockFi (March 2025)
Speedinvest, Quona, SANAD Fund for MSME, anb Seed Fund, Aljazira Capital, Disruptech Ventures, Nclude, ICU Ventures and Khwarizmi Ventures: Data center solutions, Participation in US$16 million pre-Series B funding round in Khazna (February 2025)
Blue Pool Capital, Hassana Investment Company, Wellington Management and STV: BNPL, Participation in US$160 million Series E funding round in Tabby (February 2025)
Maven Capital Partners: Payments, Participation in Series A funding round in Kani Payments (February 2025)
Motive Ventures, Battery Ventures, Earlybird, JME Ventures and 4Founders Capital: Wealth Tech, Participation in €14 million funding round in Flanks (February 2025)
Breega, Evolution Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Daphni, Speedinvest, 212 and Plus VC: SME revenue-based financing, Participation in US$69 million Series A debt and equity funding round in Flow48 (February 2025)
Endeit Capital and Uneti Ventures: Payments, Participation in US$37 million Series B funding round in Nomupay (January 2025)
Fulgur Ventures: Digital asset banking, Participation in US$58 million funding round in Sygnum (January 2025)
Further Ventures, White Star Capital, Hashed, Semantic, Techstars, Bpifrance, Motive Partners, Wintermute and Motier Ventures: Wallet-as-a-service, Participation in US$16 million Series A funding round in Dfns (January 2025)
TQ Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, ACE Ventures and Proton Foundation: Digital banking, Participation in US$18 million Series A investment round in nsave (January 2025)
Highland Europe and ETFS Capital: Client management SaaS, Participation in £45 million Series C funding round in Fundment (January 2025)
Alfven & Didrikson and Industrifonden: Open banking, Participation in €3 million funding round in Open Payments (January 2025)
Eight Road Ventures: BaaS, Participation in €42 million Series B funding round in Swan (January 2025)
Mosaic General Partnership, Entrée Capital and Tal Ventures: Finance automation, Participation in US$20 million Series A funding round in Anchor (January 2025)
Goodwater Capital, Ascension Ventures and Love Ventures: Mortgage brokerage, Participation in £14 million Series B funding round in Tembo (December 2024)
Highland Europe, Spark Capital, Redalpin, Seedcamp, 500 Start-ups and Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital: Data analytics, Participation in US$50 million Series B funding round in 9fin (December 2024)
AP Moller: Digital banking, Participation in £80 million funding round in Zopa Bank (December 2024)
Vor Capital, CNI and Incore: Corporate credit cards, Participation in €22 million Series B funding round in Mynt (December 2024)
Haun Ventures, Avenir, Tiger Global, Coinbase Ventures, DRWVC and Scribble Ventures: Stablecoin infrastructure, Participation in US$50 million Series B funding round in BVNK (December 2024)
M&G and Chenavari: BNPL, Participation in €410 million debt and equity funding round in SeQura (November 2024)
Addition, Greyhound and Lightrock: Payments, Participation in €60 million funding round in Satispay (November 2024)
General Catalyst, Morpheus Ventures and Repeat: SaaS, Participation in £22 million Series A funding round in Goodstack (November 2024)
AVP: SME treasury management platform, Participation in €45 million Series C funding round in Agicap (November 2024)
Insight Partners, Accel and Moonfire: Cyber Tech, Participation in US$35 million Series B funding round in Filigran (October 2024)
Zinal Growth and Bessemer Venture Partners: SME invoice processing software, Participation in US$30 million Series B funding round in Apron (September 2024)
Helios Investment Partners, Flourish Ventures and Incubate Fund Asia: SaaS, Participation in US$102 million Series D funding round in M2P Fintech (September 2024)
Teachers' Venture Growth, Coatue and Lakestar: InsurTech, Participation in US$193 million Series F funding round in Alan (September 2024)
RTP Global, Repeat and Latitude: Credit cards, Participation in £23.4 million early-stage funding round in Yonder (September 2024)
Insight Partners, HV Capital, HarbourVest Partners, H14 and Cherry Ventures: SaaS, Participation in US$54 million Series B funding round in Qualifyze (September 2024)
Molten Ventures and 83North: Payments, Participation in US$220 million Series C funding round in Form3 (September 2024)
Mangrove Capital Partners: Digital banking, Participation in £42 million funding round in Bank of London (September 2024)
BlueOrchard Finance and FMO Investment Management: Digital lending, Participation in US$20 million Series B funding round in Fido (September 2024)
Altos Ventures, Fintech Collective, FJ Labs, Avenir Growth, Y Combinator and Jabbar Internet Group: Payments, Participation in US$22 million Series A funding round in Ziina (September 2024)
Galaxy Ventures and Accomplice: Payments, Participation in US$10.7 million Series A funding round in Layer2 Financial (August 2024)
Blue Owl Capital, Rho Capital Partners, The Olayan Group and Hollyport Capital: Payroll finance, Participation in US$120 million funding round in CloudPay (August 2024)
White Field Ventures and Vastly Valuable Ventures: Marketplace lending, Participation in (undisclosed) pre-Seed funding round in Qardy (August 2024)
Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital and Slow Ventures: Payments, Participation in US$15 million Series A funding round in Sling Money (August 2024)
NEA, 7WireVentures, Viola Ventures and Signal Fire: Payments, Participation in US$32 million Series B equity investment round in PayZen (August 2024)
Catalyst Romania Fund II, South Central Ventures and Lead Ventures: BNPL, Participation in €10 million Series B funding round in Leanpay (July 2024)
Centana Growth Partners, MassMutual Ventures, Sandbox InsurTech Ventures and Forte Ventures: InsurTech, Participation in US$56.1 million Series C funding round in Gradient AI (July 2024)
Puma Private Equity and Par Equity: AI solutions, Participation in £11 million Series A funding round in Aveni (July 2024)
Acrew Capital, DST Global Partners, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, Amplo and NYCA Partners: Payments / money transfer, Participation in US$40 million Series A funding round in Nala (July 2024)
Argentem Creek Partners: Payments, Participation in US$13.5 million Series A extension funding round in dopay (July 2024)
Development Partners International, Lorax Capital Partners, Apis Partners, Lunate and GB Corp: Microlending, Participation in US$157.5 million funding round in MNT-Halan (July 2024)
Pollen Street Capital: SME lending, Participation in €35 million funding round in Finbee Verslui (July 2024)
Debt only funding:
Carmoola: Automotive finance, Successful US$100 million debt financing from NatWest (October 2024)
Viola Credit: Payments, Provision of US$200 million debt financing to PayZen (August 2024)
Direct investments:
Vitruvian Partners: Payments, US$190 million equity investment in Dojo (May 2025)
General Catalyst (Customer Value Fund): SME finance, €92.7 million equity investment in Finom (May 2025)
Renew Capital: Payments, Equity investment in NjiaPay (March 2025)
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board: Reg Tech, Equity investment in Regnology (January 2025)
Partech (Growth Fund): Wealth Tech, €25 million equity investment in QPLIX (November 2024)
Verdane: SaaS, €26 million equity investment in Sitoo (November 2024)
Toscafund / Penta Capital: Payments, US$30 million equity investment in CellPoint Digital (November 2024)
Incore Invest: Investment platform, Equity investment in Savr (September 2024)
Silversmith Capital Partners: RegTech, US$40 million equity investment in Novatus Global (September 2024)
Norland Capital: SaaS, Undisclosed equity investment in Dancerace (August 2024)
Osten Investments: Digital banking, US$30 million equity investment in Yuze (August 2024)
Acquisitions:
J.C. Flowers: InsurTech, Acquisition of Wefox Italia (June 2025)
Carlyle Group: Payments, Acquisition of majority stake in SurePay (June 2025)
First Ally Capital: Digital credit, Acquisition of 60% of Mines.io Nige ria (June 2025)
Monterro: SaaS, Acquisition of majority stake in Planacy (June 2025)
Perwyn: POS software, Acquisition of stake in Fortech (June 2025)
Scouting Group: POS software, Acquisition of stake in Fortech (June 2025)
FTV Capital: Compliance-as-a-service, Acquisition of FundApps (June 2025)
Apax Partners: Capital markets, Acquisition of Finastra's treasury and capital markets business (May 2025)
Main Capital Partners: Finance automation, Acquisition of majority stake in Aritma (May 2025)
Towerbrook, J.C. Flowers & Railsr (Alakazam consortium): Payments, Acquisition of Equals Group (April 2025)
Summit Partners: Asset management software, Acquisition of stake in Cenosco (March 2025)
Montagu Private Equity: SaaS, Acquisition of Multifonds (February 2025)
Investcorp: Payments, Acquisition of majority stake in Epipoli (January 2025)
AnaCap: InsurTech, Acquisition of wefox Italy (December 2024)
Nordic Capital: SaaS, Acquisition of majority stake in Anaqua (December 2024)
21 Invest: Crowdfunding, Acquisition of majority stake in Leetchi (November 2024)
Pollen Street: Insurance and pensions SaaS, Acquisition of Keylane (August 2024)
Other FIs harness the power of digitalisation
Deal highlight:
White & Case advised Goldman Sachs Asset Management on its acquisition of Trackunit, a leading SaaS and operating data platform provider in the construction industry.
Multilateral development banks:
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Finance Corporation: Mobile banking, Participation in US$15 million funding round in TBC Uzbekistan (July 2024)
International Finance Corporation: Microlending, Participation in US$157.5 million funding round in MNT Halan (July 2024)
Financial market infrastructure:
Boerse Stuttgart: Embedded finance, Participation in €140 million Series G funding round in Solaris (February 2025)
Established fintech players:
LuLu AI: BNPL, Investment in PayLater Qatar (May 2025)
Asset managers:
Goldman Sachs Asset Management: SaaS, Acquisition of Trackunit (June 2025)
Insurers:
Zurich Italia: InsurTech, Acquisition of 4Care
Qatar Insurance Group: InsurTech, Equity investment in Jaguar Transit
Qatar Insurance Group: InsurTech, Equity investment in MIC Global
Qatar Insurance Group: InsurTech, Equity investment in Digital Petroleum (February 2025)
Aviva: Mortgage brokerage, Participation in £14 million Series B funding round in Tembo (December 2024)
Allianz: InsurTech, Acquisition of insurance portfolio of Friday (October 2024)
Non-FIs cherry-pick assets
Deal highlight:
White & Case advised China Investment Corporation, China's sovereign wealth fund, on its investment (alongside Investcorp) in Investcorp Golden Horizon, a platform targeting investment opportunities in Chinese, GCC and Saudi Arabian high-growth businesses.
SWFs:
MGX: Crypto trading, US$2 billion investment in Binance (March 2025)
China Investment Corporation: Fintech, Investment in Investcorp Golden Horizon (November 2024)
Mubadala: Digital banking, Acquisition of minority equity stake in Revolut (September 2024)
Temasek: InsurTech, Participation in US$193 million Series F funding round in Alan (September 2024)
Family offices / UHNW / HNW Entrepreneurs:
lon-Ion / Jon Riberas: Payments, Acquisition of majority stake in Diusframi (June 2025)
Lord Stanley Fink: Payments, Participation in £37 million investment round in Curve (March 2025)
Oren Zeev and Amy Banse: Finance automation Participation in US$20 million Series A funding round in Anchor (January 2025)
McPike Family Office: Mortgage brokerage, Participation in £14 million Series B funding round in Tembo (December 2024)
The wheel of time turns – cashing out
Private capital:
Verdane: POS, software Disposal of 53% of Trivec (June 2025)
Fortino Capital: Asset management software, Disposal of majority stake in Cenosco (March 2025)
Impact46: InsurTech, Disposal of 17.16% of Rasan Information Technology Company (March 2025)
Bregal Milestone: Payments, Disposal of stake in Epipoli (January 2025)
Truffle Capital, Bpifrance (Digital Venture Fund) and Adelie Capital: AI-based accountancy software, Disposal of equity stakes in iPaidThat (September 2024)
Tencent: Digital banking, Disposal of 14% of Tide (August 2024)
Waterland: Insurance and pensions Disposal of Keylane (August 2024)
Inflexion Private Equity Partners: Data management, Disposal of ITM (July 2024)
Actera Group: Microlending, Disposal of stake in Tam Finans (July 2024)
Multilateral development banks:
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: SME lending, Disposal of stake in Tam Finans (July 2024)
Established fintech players:
OLX Group: Consumer finance, Disposal of Kiwi Finance (June 2025)
Finastra: Capital markets, Disposal of treasury and capital markets business (May 2025)
Groupon: B2B rewards, Disposal of Giftcloud (April 2025)
Temenos: SaaS, Disposal of Multifonds (February 2025)
Elwood Technologies: Digital asset OTC trading, Disposal of Elwood Capital Management (July 2024)
Banks:
Mashreq Bank: POS and merchant acquiring, Disposal of majority stake in Neopay to Arcapita and Dgpays (January 2025)
Banca March: SaaS, Disposal of 49% of Inversis (July 2024)
Founders:
Nik Storonsky: Neobanking Disposal of minority equity stake in Revolut (January 2025)
Gaetano Giannetto: Payments, Disposal of minority equity stake in Epipoli (January 2025)
Growth through acquisitions & partnerships
Deal highlights:
White & Case advised Regnology, a global provider of innovative regulatory, risk and supervisory technology solutions, on the acquisition of Wolters Kluwer's finance, risk & regulatory reporting business.
White & Case advised Advania, a Goldman Sachs Alternatives portfolio company and leading end-to-end Northern European IT service provider, on its acquisition of CCS Media.
White & Case advised pan-European digital current accounts and money transfers business Monese as well as its global platform-as-a-service business, XYB, on securing new funding and separation into two independent businesses, prior to the sale to Pockit.
White & Case advised Switzerland-based financing platform Teylor on its acquisition of Grenke's factoring business.
Market commentary:
After more than a decade of growth and hundreds of funded companies, European fintech is no longer a start-up story — and the stage is set for a wave of strategic acquisitions (Finextra–June 2025).
Global fintech has entered a new chapter defined by a rise in profitability and the emergence of scaled fintech and an intensified focus on profitable growth (Finextra–June 2025).
Mergers:
Moka & United Payment:Payments Merger (June 2025)
MACH & mps public solutions: SaaS, Merger (November 2024)
Radicant & Numarics: Digital banking, Merger (October 2024)
Plumery: Digital banking solutions, Digital banking JV with Fimple (July 2024)
Klarna: BNPL, BNPL JV with Adobe Commerce (July 2024)
Tangem: Crypto wallets, Crypto payments JV with Visa (July 2024)
Equity Investments:
Juni, Pleo, Moss, and Klarna: E-commerce software, Participation in US$1.3 million pre-Seed funding round for Ankor (June 2025)
Equity and debt scale up funding rounds
Deal highlight:
White & Case advised an internationally recognised investment fund on its US$50 million equity participation in Tyme Group's US$250 million Series D funding round.
Market commentary:
Macroeconomic risks have been highlighted as the biggest concern affecting the growth of global fintechs (Finextra–June 2025).
Successful Fundraisings - Equity / Equity & Debt:
Knave: Automotive finance, Successful €100 million investment from XIFU Capital (June 2025)
Token.io: Account-to-account open banking payments, Successful investment from HSBC (June 2025)
Scalable Capital: Investment platform, Successful €155 million funding round led by Sofina and Noteus Partners (June 2025)
Payflow: Payments, Successful €10 million funding round led by Cusp Capital (June 2025)
Icon Solutions: Payments, Successful funding round led by UBS (June 2025)
Aspora: Remittance, Successful US$53 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital and Greylock (June 2025)
Ankor: E-commerce software, Successful US$1.3 million pre-Seed funding round led by Upfin, Bust, and Torq Partners (June 2025)
Finom: Financial management, Successful €115 million Series C funding round led by AVP (June 2025)
Dojo: Payments, Successful US$190 million equity investment from Vitruvian Partners (May 2025)
PayLater Qatar: BNPL, Successful investment from LuLu Al (May 2025)
Qashio: Corporate credit card and financial management, Successful US$19.8 million debt and equity funding round led by Rocketship (May 2025)
Aufinity Group: Receivables processing, Successful US$26 million Series C funding round led by BlackFin Capital Partners (May 2025)
Juice: Alternative lending, Successful €25 million debt and equity funding round (May 2025)
Finom: SME finance, Successful €92.7 million equity investment from General Catalyst (Customer Value Fund) (May 2025)
BVNK: Stablecoin infrastructure, Successful equity investment from Visa Ventures (May 2025)
MoneyFellows: Consumer finance, Successful US$13 million pre-Series C funding round led by Al Mada Ventures and Nclude Fund (May 2025)
Djamo: Neobanking, Successful US$17 million funding round led by Janngo Capital (April 2025)
WeeFin: ESG SaaS, Successful €25 million funding round led by BlackFin Capital Partners (April 2025)
Mynt: Financial management, Successful equity investment from Visa (April 2025)
TransFicc: Fixed income trading infrastructure, Successful US$25 million Series B funding round led by Citadel Securities (April 2025)
Ryft: Decentralised payments, Successful £5.7 million Series A funding round led by EdenBase (April 2025)
Yonder: Credit cards, Successful equity investment from NatWest (April 2025)
Sipay: Payments, Successful US$78 million Series B funding round led by Elephant VC (April 2025)
Stitch: Africa payments, Successful US$55 million Series B funding round led by QED Investors (April 2025)
BKN301: BaaS, Successful €21.5 million Seed funding round (April 2025)
Damisa: Inter-company balances management through stablecoin, Successful £2.25 million pre-Seed funding round led by Fuel Ventures (April 2025)
Hokodo: BNPL, Successful €10 million funding round led by Korelya Capital and Opera Tech Ventures (April 2025)
Navro: Payments, Successful US$41 million Series B funding round led by Jump Capital (April 2025)
Sprive: Mortgage management software, Successful £5.5 million funding round led by Ascension (April 2025)
Pliant: Corporate credit cards, Successful US$40 million Series B funding round led by Illuminate Financial and Speedinvest (April 2025)
Next Generation: B2B payments, Successful US$5 million Seed funding round (April 2025)
Grain: Cross-currency management, Successful US$33 million Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures (March 2025)
Getir Finans: Digital banking, Successful US$70 million investment from an undisclosed provider (March 2025)
Lenkie: SME financing, Successful €49 million Series A debt and equity funding round (March 2025)
myTU: Digital banking, Successful €10 million funding round (March 2025)
Kosli: SaaS, Successful US$10 million Series A funding round led by Deutsche Bank (Corporate Venture Capital Group) and Heavybit (March 2025)
Mimo: Payments, Successful US$8.5 million funding round led by Project A (March 2025)
Novatus Global: RegTech, Successful US$40 million equity investment from Silversmith Capital Partners (September 2024)
Qualifyze: SaaS, Successful US$54 million Series B funding round led by Insight Partners (September 2024)
Form3: Payments, Successful US$220 million Series C funding round led by Goldman Sachs (September 2024)
Bank of London: Digital banking, Successful £42 million funding round led by Mangrove Capital Partners (September 2024)
Fido: Digital lending, Successful US$20 million Series B funding round led by Blue Orchard Finance and FMO Investment Management (September 2024)
Ziina: Payments, Successful US$22 million Series A funding round led by Altos Ventures (September 2024)
Layer2 Financial: Payments, Successful US$10.7 million Series A funding round led by Galaxy Ventures (August 2024)
CloudPay: Payroll finance, Successful US$120 million funding round led by Blue Owl Capital (August 2024)
Dancerace (Newable Capital): SaaS, Successful equity investment from Norland Capital (August 2024)
Qardy: Marketplace lending, Successful pre-Seed funding round led by White Field Ventures and Vastly Valuable Ventures (August 2024)
Yuze: Digital banking, Successful US$30 million equity investment from Osten Investments (August 2024)
Boom Technologies: Digital investment platform, Successful US$500 million equity investment from unnamed Dubai-based family office (August 2024)
Sling Money: Payments, Successful US$15 million Series A funding round led by Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Slow Ventures (August 2024)
PayZen: Payments, Successful US$32 million Series B equity investment round led by NEA (August 2024)
Axio: BNPL, Successful US$20 million equity investment from Amazon (August 2024)
Leanpay: BNPL, Successful €10 million Series B funding round led by BlackPeak Capital (July 2024)
Gradient AI: InsurTech, Successful US$56.1 million Series C funding round led by Centana Growth Partners (July 2024)
b AI solutions, Successful £11 million Series A funding round led by Puma Private Equity (July 2024)
TBC Uzbekistan: Mobile banking, Successful US$15 million funding round led by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Finance Corporation (July 2024)
Nala: Payments / money transfer, Successful US$40 million Series A funding round led by Acrew Capital (July 2024)
dopay: Payments, Successful US$13.5 million Series A extension funding round led by Argentem Creek Partners (July 2024)
MNT-Halan: Microlending, Successful US$157.5 million funding round led by International Finance Corporation (July 2024)
Finbee Verslui: SME lending, Successful €35 million funding round led by Pollen Street Capital (July 2024)
Successful Fundraisings - Debt Only:
Zopa Bank: Digital banking, Successful £80 million AT1 funding round (May 2025)
Ayan Capital: Automotive finance, Successful £25 million Shariah debt funding from Partners for Growth (April 2025)
Abound: Consumer lending, Successful £250 million debt funding round led by Deutsche Bank (March 2025)
Capital on Tap: Credit cards, Successful £750 million funding facility led by BNP Paribas and Citi (February 2025)
Prodigy Finance: Student loan funding, Successful US$310 million debt financing from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (November 2024)
Bolttech: InsurTech, Successful US$50 million debt financing from HSBC (November 2024)
Zilch: Payments, Successful £50 million expansion of existing securitization facility led by Deutsche Bank (October 2024)
PayZen: Payments, Successful US$200 million debt financing from Viola Credit and a syndicate of insurance companies (August 2024)
Simply Asset Finance: SME lending, Successful US$120 million debt financing from Bank of America (June 2024)
Archax: Digital securities distribution, Digital tokenization JV with Assetera (October 2024)
SDX: Digital asset exchange, Digital asset platform JV with RULEMATCH (October 2024)
Funding Round Support:
Zengo: Crypto wallet, Successful equity investment from Tether (February 2025)
Deblock: Crypto wallet, Successful £13.3 million Seed funding round led by Headline, Hoxton Ventures, Chalfen Ventures, and 20VC (November 2024)
Governments and regulators believe in tech future
Market commentary:
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority will embrace technology as a key tool in its five-year strategy to support growth and improve lives (Finextra, March 2025).
The European Investment Bank has proposed measures to strengthen funding for fintechs and start-ups in Europe, including expanding the European Tech Champions initiative, a fund of funds targeting European unicorns (Finextra, October 2024).
The British Business Bank reported a £122 million post-tax loss in its 2024 financial year, as declining start-up and tech valuations impacted its financial performance (Financial Times, August 2024).
Governments:
British Business Bank: SME funding, Additional £15 million investment for UK SMEs to a separately managed account run by Prefequity (July 2025)
British Business Bank: Fintech partnership, Fintech investment partnership with Avellinia Capital (June 2025)
British Business Bank: Decentralised payments, Participation in £5.7 million Series A funding round in Ryft (April 2025)
Regulators:
UK Financial Conduct Authority: UK, Launch of Supercharged Sandbox (part of AI Lab) (June 2025)
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens / Dutch Data Protection Authority: Netherlands, Announcement of AI regulatory sandbox (June 2025)
Dubai Future Foundation: UAE, Sandbox Dubai JV with Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg (March 2025)
Bank of England: UK, Launch of Digital Pound Lab (January 2025)
White & Case means the international legal practice comprising White & Case LLP, a New York State registered limited liability partnership, White & Case LLP, a limited liability partnership incorporated under English law and all other affiliated partnerships, companies and entities.
This article is prepared for the general information of interested persons. It is not, and does not attempt to be, comprehensive in nature. Due to the general nature of its content, it should not be regarded as legal advice.
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