The fintech market is returning to some sense of normality in terms of valuations after a period in which it "largely lost its head", according to a leading investor.
The comments were made by Tim Levene, chief executive of Augmentum Fintech, one of the largest venture capital (VC) funds listed in Europe.
Levene was presenting the fund's six-month results and spoke of a "cautious optimism" for investors as a result of more stable valuations as well as a shift in market sentiment.
While interest rates appeared to be steadying, the price of fintech stocks were retuning to the levels last seen in 2018-19, according to Levene.
Valuations had increased dramatically between 2020 and 2021, he said, and this had led investors to withdraw from the market. This reticence was still evident in the first few months of the year, said Levene.
“I think a lot of companies resisted coming to the market unless they absolutely had to because they felt the market wasn’t necessarily conducive for fundraising,” saidf Levene in comments reported by Tech.EU.
The fund, which backs UK challenger bank Monese as well as P2P lender Zopa and online SME lender Iwoca, saw the value of its top ten investments rise from £182m to £199m in the six months up to the end of September.