Fintech deal making cooled in 1H 2025 versus late 2024, but AI-enabled finance and digital assets stayed hot. Early-stage valuations hit fresh highs even as average check sizes shrank.
On the branding side, .com remains massive, .ai is surging, and new gTLDs are gaining share among high-funded startups. (Full methodology and sources throughout.)
How we define “finance start-ups”
Fintech and finance-adjacent technology companies across payments, banking/credit, wealth/investing, insurtech, capital markets/infra, regtech, and crypto/digital-asset platforms.
This piece consolidates the most recent public data from KPMG Pulse of Fintech (H1 2025), Carta’s State of Private Markets: Q2 2025, Crunchbase H1 funding tallies, FT Partners & Houlihan Lokey sector updates, and Verisign/DNIB domain data (Q1–Q2 2025), plus reputable industry analyses.
Funding & Deal making: 18 stats that set the stage
The first half of 2025 marked the slowest half-year for global fintech funding since early 2020, yet the slowdown reflects selectivity, not collapse.
Global fintech investment fell to $44.7B across 2,216 deals in H1 2025, the weakest half-year since early 2020.
That’s down from $54.2B across 2,376 deals in H2 2024.
Q2 2025 was particularly soft: $18.7B over 972 deals.
VC fintech dollars were resilient—$23.4B in H1 2025, slightly above $23B in H2 2024—even as M&A/PE slowed.
Americas drew the majority of fintech funding: $27B in H1 2025.
The U.S. alone saw $20.9B across 889 deals in H1 2025, with four of the five largest global fintech deals.
EMEA totaled $13.7B over 759 deals in H1 2025.
APAC lagged at an estimated $4.3B for H1 2025.
Digital-asset fintechs pulled in $8.4B in H1 2025, already near full-year 2024’s $10.7B.
AI-enabled fintech raised $7.2B in H1 2025, close to full-year 2024’s $8.9B.
Fintech M&A value slid to $19.9B in H1 2025, down from $26.7B in H2 2024.
PE investment into fintech dropped to $1.4B in H1 2025 (from $4.4B in H2 2024).
Quarterly pulse: Private fintech financings reached $18.0B across 962 transactions in Q2 2025 (deal count down ~7% YoY).
Deal activity momentum: FT Partners notes Q2 2025 fintech deal activity was the highest since Q4 2021, up ~40% YoY.
Later-stage (Series B+) dollars hit the highest level since Q1 2023 in Q2 2025.
Canada’s fintech funding slowed to $1.6B in H1 2025.
Brazil tallied $339.3M over 47 fintech deals in H1 2025.
Context across all tech: Global venture funding (all sectors) in H1 2025 hit about $188B—the strongest half since H1 2022. While not fintech-only, it frames the broader risk appetite.
What it means: Investors are choosier, but still active—especially where AI augments financial workflows or where infra enables real revenue (payments, B2B banking, market data).
The dollar mix is shifting toward fewer, larger, later-stage financings even as total round counts ebb.
Valuations & Multiples: 12 stats that explain pricing power
Even as deal counts shrink, pricing power has shifted upward—especially at the early stage.
Median seed pre-money hit a record $16M in Q1 2025.
Median Series A pre-money reached $48M in Q1 2025—also a record in Carta’s data.
The median time between rounds stretched to 696 days in Q2 2025. Companies on Carta raised $46.9B across 2,248 funding events in H1 2025.
Public fintech traded at ~5.6× EV/TTM revenue in 1H 2025 (up from ~4.3× in 2023), per Houlihan Lokey’s sector update
Fintech EV/EBITDA multiples averaged ~15.9× in 1H 2025, roughly flat vs. 2024 in HL’s time series.
Fintech software valuations rebounded sharply in Q2 2025: revenue multiples +36% QoQ and +37% YoY, per Silverpeak’s analysis.
Chime’s 2025 IPO pricing implied ~5.7× 2024 revenue at the indicated range—an anchor datapoint for consumer neobank comps.
Revolut’s internal valuation rose to ~$75B in September 2025, signaling renewed appetite for profitable, scaled fintechs.
Average check sizes shrank 3–9% QoQ from Series A to D in Q2 2025, as more (but smaller) new rounds got done.
Seed cash raised spiked to ~$4B in Q2 2025 (helped by one large outlier)—early risk is back, selectively.
AI’s share of U.S. VC deal value hit ~64% in 1H 2025, a macro force that is lifting select AI-native fintech valuations.
What it means: Pricing at seed/A keeps marching up, but later-stage rounds are often leaner than 2021. In public markets, fintech revenue and EBITDA multiples recovered from 2023 troughs, supporting higher private marks for quality assets.
Exits & Liquidity: 4 stats that matter
The IPO window isn’t fully open yet, but momentum is building.
Fintech M&A slowed to $19.9B in H1 2025 (from $26.7B in H2 2024), showing buyers are selective on price/fit.
Private-market dealmaking in Q2 2025 reached a post-2021 high in activity (even as dollars concentrated), improving the set-up for eventual exits.
Later-stage funding is recovering, a prerequisite for robust IPO pipelines in 2026 as companies push toward profitability.
Digital-asset financings accelerated to $8.4B in H1 2025, often tied to infra play that are more M&A-friendly.
What it means: The exit window isn’t wide open, but the rebound in public comps and improving later-stage appetite are creating a path—especially for profitable payments, B2B banking, and infra names.
Naming Trends & Domain Patterns: 16 stats for brand builders
A strong name and domain remain a cornerstone of fintech brand strategy.
The internet counted 371.7M domain registrations in Q2 2025, up 0.9% QoQ and 2.6% YoY.
.com + .net totaled 169.8M domains in Q1 2025 (.com 157.2M; .net 12.6M).
New gTLDs reached 39.5M domains in Q2 2025—+14.2% YoY (renewal est. ~32.5%).
Other legacy gTLDs (not .com/.net) stood at 18.3M in Q2 2025; renewals ~72%.
ccTLDs hit 143.4M in Q2 2025, up ~2.5% YoY.
New gTLD share ≈10.6% of all domains (39.5M / 371.7M) in Q2 2025—small but growing. (Derived from DNIB figures.)
ccTLD share ≈38.6% of all domains (143.4M / 371.7M) in Q2 2025. (Derived from DNIB figures.)
Among the 1,000 highest-funded startups (Jul ’24–Jun ’25), 44.3% launched on new gTLDs vs. 42.3% on .com, per Identity Digital’s analysis—evidence that well-funded teams now consider alternatives more often.
.ai exploded in popularity: registrations grew ~31% YoY (May ’24→May ’25), says registrar Openprovider.
Anguilla’s .ai windfall: ~$32M in 2024 domain revenue (population ~16k), underscoring the TLD’s startup pull—especially among AI-native fintechs.
.com/.net combined renewal was ~75.3% in Q1 2025, highlighting why many scaled fintechs still prefer legacy TLDs for trust.
Verisign reports a steady climb in total domains through 2025, with Q1 at 368.4M and Q2 at 371.7M (net +3.3M in a quarter).
Fintech-focused new namespace moves are arriving: India launched .bank.in and .fin.in in July 2025 to bolster BFSI trust signals online.
Category leaders still skew to .com—e.g., among Forbes’ Fintech 50 2025 winners, the modal pattern remains a concise .com (category composition shown in the list).
New gTLD adoption is strongest in AI-heavy segments, where novelty and availability matter more than legacy convention (Identity Digital’s 1,000-startup sample).
For brand strategy: DNIB’s growth math implies millions of net new domains each quarter, tightening availability for short, finance-relevant .coms—one reason premium names and strong alternatives (e.g., .ai, select new gTLDs) keep appreciating.
What it means: If you’re an AI-native or infra-first fintech, .ai or a well-selected new gTLD can be credible and memorable—especially if the exact .com is unobtainable.
If you’re going mass-market consumer or regulated B2C, .com still carries the highest immediate trust signal and best renewal behaviour.
Practical takeaways for founders & operators
Raise with proof, not promises. Dollars are concentrating in fewer, stronger rounds; bring revenue quality, gross margin clarity, and a realistic CAC/LTV path.
Expect longer clocks between rounds. Plan runway for ~22–24 months; valuation “steps” are highest at seed/A, but follow-ons are pickier and smaller.
Use comps wisely. Public fintech revenue multiples recovered vs. 2023—great if you have profitable growth; less helpful if you’re far from unit-economic breakeven.
Name like a brand strategist. If the perfect .com is gone, consider crisp, finance-relevant alternates (.ai for AI-native, or vetted new gTLDs with strong category meaning). DNIB shows overall supply tightening; Identity Digital’s cohort shows real adoption of alternatives among well-funded teams.
Regulated markets reward trust cues. Moves like India’s .bank.in/.fin.in hint at where policy and perception are heading—expect more namespace signals around compliance and security
