UK fintech investment hits $7.2 billion in H1 2025 – down 5% from H1 2024

• 216 UK M&A, PE and VC fintech deals completed in H1 2025, up from 198 in H1 2024.
• $3.1 billion acquisition of data group Preqin by Blackrock highlights ongoing consolidation across the market as well as the uptick in Private Equity buyouts of mature fintechs.
• Global fintech investment saw the softest six-month period since H1’20, with just $44.7 billion in investment across 2,216 deals.

Total UK fintech investment hit $7.2 billion in the first half of 2025, down 5% from $7.6 billion in the same period in 2024, according to KPMG’s latest Pulse of Fintech report, a bi-annual report on fintech investment trends published today (12 August 2025).

Geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility and global concern around macroeconomic growth rates have all contributed to more subdued levels of UK fintech investment, compared to the record highs experienced in 2021.

H1’25’s investment total was strengthened by the size of many of the deals, including the $3.1 billion buyout of private markets data group Preqin by Blackrock, a $500 million VC round by cross border payments platform Rapyd Financial Network, and a $500 million raise by the wealth and asset management technology platform FNZ.

216 UK M&A, PE and VC fintech deals were completed in H1 2025, up slightly from 198 in H1 2024. Q2 2025 saw a slowdown in deals compared to the first quarter of the year, UK fintech investment in Q1 2025 was $5.2 billion across 125 deals compared with $2 billion in Q2 2025 across 91 deals.

The UK remains the centre of European fintech investment, with British fintechs attracting more funding than their counterparts in the rest of EMEA combined.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was the only major region to see fintech investment grow—from $11.1 billion across 780 deals in H2’24 to $13.7 billion across 759 deals in H1’25.

The largest EMEA deals outside of the UK included the buyout of cloud platform Esker for $1.6 billion by the investment group Bridgepoint.

Hannah Dobson, Partner and UK Head of Fintech at KPMG UK, said: "Although UK fintech investment experienced a slight decline in the first half of the year compared to 2024, it is encouraging to observe the continued resilience of the UK fintech sector despite the challenging macroeconomic environment."

“Key areas of investment to watch over the coming months are the continuing development of fintech AI and the growth of the digital assets sector.”

Karim Haji, Global and UK Head of Financial Services at KPMG, added: “Looking ahead to H2’25 globally, digital assets and currencies are well position to see investment grow even more. Whether Circle’s highly successful IPO will drive other crypto firms to exit will also be a trend to watch out for in the space.”

H1'25 - Key Highlights

• Global fintech investment saw the softest six-month period since H1’20, with just $44.7 billion in investment across 2,216 deals.
• Global M&A deal value fell from $26.7 billion in H2’24 to $19.9 billion in H1’25, while PE investment fell from $4.4 billion to $1.3 billion; global VC investment remained steady over the same timeframe, rising marginally from $23 billion to $23.4 billion.
• The EMEA region was the only major region to see fintech investment grow—from $11.1 billion across 780 deals in H2’24 to $13.7 billion across 759 deals in H1’25.
• The Americas attracted the most fintech investment in H1’25, with $26.7 billion invested across 1,092 deals in H1’25—down from $35.7 billion across 1,150 deals in H2’24.
• The ASPAC region had the softest level of fintech investment, with just $4.2 billion across 363 deals in H1’25, compared to $7.3 billion across 444 deals in H2’24.

At the sector level, crypto, AI, and regtech were all trending well ahead of 2024’s investment levels at mid-year. Crypto had $8.4 billion in investment in H1’25—compared to $10.7 billion during all of 2024, while AI saw $7.2 billion in investment—compared to $8.9 billion in all of 2024.