The fusion word “Fintech” has been mentioned quite frequently in recent years, as its name implies, it provides financial products and services to consumers through technological means. It has to be said that financial technology is quietly changing the traditional financial industry. From digital payment wallets to investment platforms to online banking, people’s lives are permeated with the shadow of financial technology.
With the fintech industry booming, industry experts expect the fintech industry to be valued at more than £150bn in 2022 and over £175bn by 2024. On this occasion, Utility Bidder conducted research on the valuation, financing amount, social attention and online popularity of various large fintech companies, and made a list of the world’s most influential fintech giants.
Research shows that in 2021 Robinhood is far ahead of other fintech companies in terms of funding volume and search frequency, becoming the most influential fintech company, while Stripe, Kraken, Klarna and Wise are close behind, occupying the top five positions . However, in 2022 the list has changed dramatically, with the exception of Stripe, no other fintech company has made the list again.
Chime
- Founders: Chris Britt, Ryan King
- Year of establishment: 2013
- Total funding: $2.3 billion
With a current valuation of $25 billion, Chime has become a big winner in the financial technology track and one of the most influential technology companies in 2022. The company’s vision is to help millions of Americans achieve financial security. It relies on rapidly developing fintech to provide users with useful, simple and free banking services. At the same time, it has partnered with local banks to launch member-based financial products, offering better, lower-cost options that are more competitive than traditional banks.
In August 2021, Chime completed a $750 million round of financing led by Sequoia Capital Global Equities, with participation from SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund 2, as well as General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management LLC and Dragoneer Investment Group LLC.
OpenSea
- Founders: Alex Atallah, Devin Finzer
- Year of establishment: 2017
- Total funding: $427 million
OpenSea is a peer-to-peer platform for trading crypto collectibles and NFTs, and is also touted as the world’s first and largest Web3 marketplace for NFTs and crypto collectibles. On OpenSea, anyone can buy or sell collectibles, in-game items, and blockchain-powered virtual goods through smart contracts. In January this year, the platform completed a $300 million funding round led by Paradigm and Coatue Management, valuing it at $13.3 billion.
Stripe
- Founder: John Collison
- Year of establishment: 2010
- Total funding: $2.2 billion
Headquartered in San Francisco, Stripe is a fintech company that provides economic infrastructure. From small startups to large public companies, the company handles complex global operations such as online payments and business loans for companies of all sizes. In addition to providing economic infrastructure, Stripe has launched a variety of new businesses, such as crowdfunding marketplaces, fraud prevention, analytics applications, and more. At present, Stripe is valued at $68.4 billion, and has worked closely with giants such as Apple, Google, Alipay, and Tencent to continuously innovate in business.
Brex
- Founders: Henrique Dubugras, Pedro Franceschi
- Year of establishment: 2017
- Total funding: $1.1 billion
Brex is a financial technology company that provides services to growing companies, focusing on issuing smart corporate credit cards for start-ups, solving the problems that start-ups are difficult to meet with traditional banks for corporate credit cards. In addition, Brex also provides enterprises with integrated payment flow, order, expenditure analysis and other services, so as to detect risks in a timely manner and make suggestions for avoidance. The company is currently valued at $12.3 billion.
TripActions
- Founders: Ariel Cohen, Ilan Twig
- Year of establishment: 2015
- Total funding: $912 million
Based in California, fintech company TripActions provides businesses with business travel bookings, expense management, and virtual card offerings. It uses real-time data to help companies ensure the safety of traveling employees, reduce expenses and increase productivity. Currently, TripActions has more than 5,000 global customers and is valued at $7.3 billion.
Carta
- Founders: Henry Ward, Manu Kumar
- Year of establishment: 2012
- Total funding: $1.1 billion
Fintech company Carta, headquartered in San Francisco, develops equity management tools for startups, helping shareholders, employees, auditors and legal advisors to participate in equity management electronically, and convert paper stock certificates, stock options, stock options, etc. digitization of warrants and derivatives. The company is currently valued at $7.4 billion and recently acquired London-based fintech startups Vauban and Capdesk.
FTX
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which moved its headquarters to the Bahamas, also made the list this year. The exchange offers trading in a range of digital asset derivatives, including industry-first derivatives, options, volatility products and leveraged tokens, supporting all major cryptocurrencies, leveraged tokens and OTC quarterly and perpetual futures. FTX is the only non-U.S.-based fintech company on this list and is currently valued at $32 billion.
Chainalysis
- Founders: Jan Moller, Jonathan Levin, Michael Gronager
- Year of establishment: 2014
- Total funding: $537 million
Headquartered in New York, the blockchain data platform Chainalysis provides blockchain data analysis for many governments, banks and enterprises around the world, and also designs and develops anti-money laundering software for Bitcoin enterprises. Not only that, but Chainalysis provides financial institutions with activity monitoring reports and due diligence tools to help analysts spot new cyber threats in a timely manner. Just a few months ago, Chainalysis completed a $170 million Series F funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC at a valuation of $8.6 billion.
Fireblocks
- Founders: Idan Ofrat, Michael Shaulov, Pavel Berengoltz
- Year of establishment: 2018
- Total funding: $1 billion
Fireblocks, the world’s leading digital asset and cryptocurrency infrastructure platform, provides a reliable infrastructure for transferring, storing, and issuing digital assets. Exchanges, custodians, banks, hedge funds, lending departments, trading departments, etc. can all use Fireblocks network facilities to be safe Expand digital asset business.
Earlier this year, Fireblocks closed a $550 million Series E round led by D1 Capital Partners and Spark Capital, with participation from General Atlantic, Index Ventures, Mammoth, CapitalG, Altimeter, Iconiq Strategic Partners, Canapi Ventures and Parafi Growth Fund, Fireblocks was valued at more than $8 billion in this funding round.
Circle
- Founders: Jeremy Allaire, Sean Neville
- Year of establishment: 2013
- Total funding: $1.1 billion
Circle is a global internet finance company that adopts blockchain technology and is powered by crypto assets. The company provides users with an online platform to send money quickly and easily, while also combining blockchain technology with Circle Pay to simplify and improve the way users send money. Not only that, Circle has also launched a digital investment platform, Circle Invest, where users can trade virtual currencies immediately without paying any fees. Earlier this year, Circle closed a $400 million funding round at a valuation of $9 billion.
