Early-stage deals shine in Singapore’s fintech space amidst ‘cautious’ investors’

There were 52 early-stage deals in Sinagpore in H1 versus just 25 later-stage deals.

Fintech deal activity in Singapore rose but the total value of investments fell during the first six months of 2024 as investors turned their attention towards smaller, early-stage deals.

A total of 117 deals across venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were recorded in H1, according to data from KPMG’s “Pluse of Fintech for H1’24” report. This is 19% higher than in H1 2023.

However, Singapore fintechs raised only $522.89m during the period– 34% lower than the $790.1m invested in them across 98 deals in H2 2023.

“There is a noticeable shift towards smaller, early-stage investments rather than large-scale deals. In Singapore, this trend is evident with 52 early-stage deals, 32 seed rounds, 25 later-stage investments, and 5 M&A transactions recorded,” KMPG said.

This is in line with the global trend: fintech investments fell to $51.9b across 2,255 deals in H1 from $62.3b across 2,287 in H2 2023.

KPMG noted an increased caution amongst investors on the back of high interest rates and economic uncertainties.
 
"The reality is that the overall global investment total for the first half of the year was buoyed by a handful of large deals, several of which were take privates aimed at avoiding significant or further valuation loss,” said Anton Ruddenklau, global head of Fintech and Innovation, Financial Services, KPMG International. 

“Meanwhile, the volume of early-stage deals globally has been thriving both because of the interest in new technologies, such as AI applications, and newer business models to meet the changing nature of the financial services sector,” Ruddenklau said.

By segment, cryptocurrency and blockchain in Singapore amassed $211.90m across 72 deals in H1, 22% higher than the over 38 deals in H2 2023. 

Singapore’s payments segment clinched $80.2m across 10 deals, making it the segment that attracted the second-highest investments in H1. However, the value is 78% lower than the $142.65m the segment got in investments in H2 2023.