Total UK fintech investment fell by more than 50% in 2022 as a combination of higher interest rates and inflation, alongside downward pressure on valuations, dampened investor appetite, according to the latest report from KPMG.
UK fintech investment fell from $39.1 billion in 2021 to $17.4 billion in 2022. This was across a total of 593 M&A, PE and VC fintech deals, down from 724 in 2021.
However, the UK was far from alone in seeing a drop off and remains the centre of European fintech investment, with firms attracting more funding than their counterparts in the rest of Emea combined.
Karim Haji, UK and Emea head of financial services, KPMG, says: "Despite the drop in both value and volume, it was a strong year for the UK fintech industry. The UK is a major global player, with investment in UK fintech only behind that of the US and Australia."
Total global fintech investment fell to $164.1 billion across 6006 deals in 2022, after reaching a record $238.9 billion across 7321 deals the previous year.
Payments remains the strongest area of fintech investment globally, with $53.1 billion in investment compared to US$57.1 billion in 2021; Regtech was the only sector to buck the downward trend, with investment in the space rising from US$11.8 billion in 2021 to a record $18.6 billion.
In contrast, investment in crypto and blockchain fell from $30 billion in 2021 to $23.1 billion in 2022. The decline in the second half of the year was particularly sharp as scrutiny in the space picked up significantly in the wake of the May Terra (Luna) crash and the November bankruptcy of FTX.