India draws US$1.93 bn fintech investment in Q3

India has stayed on the top of the list as far as the volume and value of fintech investments in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region goes. It leads the region with US$1.93 billion raised across 66 deals in the third quarter of 2021. This was revealed in a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Approximately, investments in Asian fintech firms skyrocketed by over 68 percent sequentially to US$5.47 billion in Q3, reaching a new quarterly high since the first quarter of 2019 (Q1-2019). The volume of transactions also rose 21% to 216 deals, the report said.

This surge in investments in the APAC region’s financial technology sector, from the claims of the report, can be credited to the rise in the number of transactions in the region, which has reached a total of US$100 million in size. The unprecedented shift towards digital channels has been spurred a marked increase in valuations. This may also be caused partly by improved fundamentals.

“However, it may also reflect private investors’ willingness to pay higher multiples due to their bullishness in the fintech sector. That said, newly-listed APAC-based fintechs have so far seen positive reactions from public markets, which may encourage more fintech investments in the region. In particular, we expect Southeast Asia-based fintechs to attract more capital as venture capitalists raise new money to double down on technology investments in the region,” said Celeste Goh, fintech analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence.