In partnership with The New York Times, CB Insights reports on the top 100 venture capitalists; top on the list is Bill Gurley from Benchmark; notable increases from 2016 include Founders Fund's Brian Singerman who moved to fifth and Lightspeed Venture Partners' Ravi Mhatre who is ranked sixth. Source
The European Investment Fund (EIF) has pumped over $2 billion into venture capital funds and startups in the last four years; with the vote to leave the European Union, venture capitalists in the UK now fear that this important source of funding will disappear as the government looks to officially complete Brexit; the UK is not as fortunate as the US when it comes to endowments that allocate capital to funds, therefore the EIF has filled a much needed role; there currently is no plan to replace the EIF when the UK officially leaves, though lawmakers and lobbyists are looking to see if they can strike a deal to keep the flow of capital coming. Source
VeriComply has announced the completion of a new funding round from investors including Jon Barlow of Eaglewood Capital and John Maute of Helios AMC and Situs Holdings; VeriComply plans to use the funding for sales and operations of the firm's automated loan verification services for lending platforms and the secondary market; it is currently building out its business for verification services in the marketplace lending industry. Source
Errol Damelin has been steadily growing his presence in London's fintech sector; founder of Wonga, Damelin's expertise and mentorship has helped over 200 employees currently working in London's fintech scene; his company Wonga is a case study for online payday lending in Europe and despite his exit from the company in 2014, Damelin has gone on to successfully invest and mentor a wide range of startup businesses in London. Source
Silver Lake Partners is leading the next financing round for SoFi that is expected to add $500 million in new capital for the growing alternative finance company; investors include Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. and several other Asian investors along with DCM Ventures and Third Point; with the completion of the fundraising, SoFi will be valued at approximately $4.3 billion; recent acquisitions and product introductions have helped the firm expand its offerings from student loan refinancings to personal loans, mortgages, wealth management, life insurance and digital banking. Source
Southeast Asia reported 71 fintech deals in 2016, an increase of 29% from 2015; total deal value was down from $177 million at $158 million; angel and seed investments led for the year with 62% of total financings; in 2016, Singapore continued to be the region's most active fintech innovator with 52% of the year's total deals; the top three venture capital investors since 2012 are East Ventures, 500 Startups and Golden Gate Ventures. Source
Singapore-based Dymon Asia Ventures has received investment of $20 million and plans to meet its target fundraising of $50 million over the next 12 months; firm plans to invest in 12 to 15 companies and has already begun investing in five companies which include: blockchain startup Otonomos, financing firm Capital Match, forex-focused 4XLabs, trading platform Spark Systems and marketing service WeConvene; the firm's investment focus will be on business to business companies targeting the growing Southeast Asia internet market; it says it will invest in seed stage funding through Series B funding with investments ranging from $300,000 to $3 million and reserves available for continued investment in follow-on rounds. Source
Most well-known for his music career, Jay Z has also been investing in startups since 2012; the rapper has now reported he will launch a venture capital firm with partner Jay Brown of Roc Nation; Sherpa Capital will also help to launch the fund which will focus on seed-stage companies. Source
Data from KPMG's Q4 2016 The Pulse of Fintech report showed US fintech funding decreasing to $12.8 billion in 2016, down from $27 billion in 2015; deal flow was also lower with 489 deals in 2016, a decrease from 615 deals in 2015; globally, funding was lower at $25 billion versus $47 billion in 2015. Source
Investment funding deals for fintech businesses were lower in 2016, according to data from CB Insights; the firm reports that the number of deals remained steady with a 1% decrease to 836 however the total amount funded decreased by 13% to $12.7 billion in 2016; global instability and industry challenges in P2P lending were among the factors contributing to the lower investment. Source