Stacks of money, that’s what it takes to make a successful fintech investment. However, it’s not an easy task.
Fintech companies need to raise millions of dollars in funding before they can even think about building out their infrastructure, let alone start making revenue. Even then, building a successful fintech business is no easy feat; it takes time, dedication, and hard work from every employee.
So far, the USA has been slow to embrace fintech startups as a whole compared to other countries like China and India. However, that could change in 2019 after several successful investments by big names in the sector, such as Fidelity Investments, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Andreessen Horowitz.
In this article, we will be looking at the top 7 fintech investors in the United States.
The Biggest Fintech Investors In The USA
Fintech is the new way of business, disrupting the financial services industry. Fintech companies are taking on legacy banks by providing better customer experiences, faster payments, and more efficient financial products.
To understand how fintech companies impact the financial services industry, we looked at our database of fintech funding rounds to find out which investors were most active in funding fintech startups.
Here are seven US-based fintech investors who have already made significant investments this year:
1.Stripes
Stripes is a notable investment firm that features a diversified portfolio in software, fintech, and consumer products.
Based in New York City, Stripes has investments tied into notable companies including the business banking platform Novo; CarOnSale, a comprehensive platform for wholesale vehicles; and Califa Farms.
Combined with $7.7 Billion assets under management, it’s easy to see why this investment firm is making a huge splash with innovative companies of the future.
2.Citi Ventures
Citi Ventures is the venture capital arm of Citigroup, one of the largest banks in the world, with over 300 million customers and over $2 trillion in assets under management.
It is a multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. It has recently been involved in several projects involving fintech, including the launch of Citi Fintech Labs and its investment in Stripe.
Citi Ventures has invested in 15 companies since its inception in 2015, including Stripe, Lyft, Shopify, and Warby Parker.
Citi Ventures is an investment arm of Citibank that focuses on consumer internet companies such as Airbnb and Uber. Citi Ventures has invested in over 100 companies since its inception in 2014, including some of the biggest names in tech today, like Spotify and Nest Labs. Citi Ventures’ portfolio includes several FinTech companies, including Wealthfront, Personal Capital, and Fidelity Investments.
3.The Artemis Fund
The Artemis Fund, which LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman created, has invested more than $150 million in companies working on new technologies for financial services. In September 2018, the fund announced its first investment.
An investment of $25 million into California-based Fundera, which offers products for small businesses to manage their finances directly from their website or mobile apps without paying high fees for traditional financial services providers like banks or credit unions.
The Artemis Fund is a venture capital fund that invests exclusively in women-led startups as they scale their businesses globally. The fund was founded by Ellen Pao and backed by investors, including former Reddit CEO Yishan Wong (who was later fired), actor/activist Jesse Williams, and actress Alyssa Milano.
The Artemis Fund is one of the most active investors in financial tech companies; it has invested $300 million across 20 companies since 2012. The fund is run by former JPMorgan Chase banker Adam Nash and includes prominent Wall Streeters like ex-Goldman Sachs banker Rajeev Misra and UBS managing director Brad Karsh. The fund focuses on early-stage investments in FinTech companies with $1 million or less in funding; it has made investments in mobile banking startups like Monese.
4. Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners is a venture capital (VC) fund with over $4 billion under management that focuses on investing in early-stage technology companies such as Uber Technologies Inc., WeWork Group Inc., and Spotify Technology SA.
Highland Capital Partners primarily invests in companies that create products or services that help improve consumers’ lives through digital technologies such as mobile payments, digital advertising, ecommerce platforms, and more.
5. Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in 2009. In 2016, the firm had over $1.6 billion under management across its funds. The firm invests in early-stage technology companies, focusing on software, the Internet, and mobile.
The company has invested in more than 600 companies, including Airbnb, SoundCloud, Instagram, Tumblr, and Stripe. The firm’s investments are concentrated on data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve consumers’ lives.
In 2018, Andreessen Horowitz invested $40 million into Fintech startup Clearbanc. It also helped raise $250 million for BlackRock-backed loan marketplace Borrowell. In November 2018, it led a $400 million investment round in peer-to-peer lending platform LendingClub Corp.
6. Greycroft Partners
Greycroft Partners is a venture capital (VC) firm based in Los Angeles, California, with offices in New York City and San Francisco. It specializes in investing in early-stage technology companies such as Kabbage Inc., Warby Parker, Zenefits, and ZenCash.
Greycroft has backed over seventy companies since its founding in 2008, including many well-known Silicon Valley startups such as Dropbox, Box, and Paperless Post.
7. First Round Capital
First Round Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California, with offices in New York City, London, and Hong Kong. Dave McClure founded it with seed funding from PayPal founder Peter Thiel; other members include John Doerr and Geoff Lewis. The firm is known for its focus on consumer internet companies like Twitter and Uber as well as enterprise companies like Automattic (WordPress)
The Fintech industry is booming in the USA. By 2020, more than half of all jobs will be in some FinTech field.
In the USA, new fintech companies are being funded by several different investors. These include venture capital firms and private equity firms, as well as banks and non-bank financial institutions.
It has led to an influx of investors and startups looking to cash in on the trend. Here are seven of the most prominent Fintech investors in the USA.
