- Nordic FinTech saw 6 times more investment in Q1 2017 compared to Q1 2016.
- The increase in Investment can partly be attributed to payments Giant iZettle which raised more than $60m across a $15.9 Series D round and $47.6m debt financing round. Other companies raising large rounds in this quarter include Norway Xeneta and Sweden Qapital which both raised $12m.
- Despite the increase in total funding the number of deals fell from its high of 37 in Q3 2016 to match the levels in Q1 2016.
Total FinTech Investments to the Nordics have been falling year on year
- Total FinTech investments in Nordic companies have fallen continuously year on year. However, this is mostly due to a fall in deals valued above $40m. In 2014 56% of all investment in Nordic FinTech came from only 2 deals. Payments companies iZettle and Klarna raised $55.5m and $115.8m, respectively.
- The number of total deals grew at a CAGR of 30.95% between 2014 and 2016. This is partly due to the increase in deals valued $20m and below which grew at a CAGR of 30.6% between 2014 and 2016.
- Q1 2017 was a particularly good quarter since Nordic FinTech companies received more than half of the total invested in the whole of 2016.
Sweden deal share has consistently increased since 2014
- Nearly two thirds of Nordic FinTech investments went to companies based in Sweden in 2016, an 18.5% share increase since 2014.
- The share of deals to Finnish companies has been steadily falling since 2014 compared to a steady increase in the share of Danish deals in the same period.
- Q1 2017 saw investors pull back on investments into Danish FinTech companies in favour of those based in Finland and Norway. As a result, Norway, Finland and Denmark received an equal share of deals in Q1 2017.
Payments & Remittances, WealthTech and Infrastructure & Enterprise Software companies received 65% of all FinTech deals closed in the Nordics between 2014 and Q1 2017.
- The Payments & Remittances Sector received the highest number of deals between 2014 and Q1 2017. The largest deal to this sector went to E-Commerce payments platform Klarna which raised $115.8m in Q2 2014.
- Whilst Sweden is home to arguably two of the most successful payment companies in Europe i-Zettle and Klarna. Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark are all home to successful payments companies of their own. In 2016 Finland Wolt raised $12.5m, Norway PreGo raised $7m, Denmarks Bancore raised $6.7m, and Iceland Handpoint raised $3.4m. Apart from Handpoint which specialises in Point of Sale technology, each of these companies concentrate on processing Mobile Payments.
- A further 23% of deals went to companies specialising in Funding Platforms, Marketplace Lending, Data & analytics and InsurTech.
