2015 was a record year for payments startups, which thanks to a flurry of $100M+ mega-rounds raised over $3.3B in funding, across 293 deals.
However, the bulk of funding occurred during the first 3 quarters of 2015, and the category saw a dramatic plunge in funding terms in Q4’15 as the mega-deals dried up (even as deals continued trending up).
Q1’16 funding recovered slightly, with payments startups raising roughly $400M of investment across 75 deals.
Investors are pumping money into companies building bitcoin-powered payments startups, mobile commerce, billing services, money-transferring services, point-of-sale solutions, and much more. Using CB Insights data and analytics, we highlight quarterly financing trends as well the most well-funded startups in payments.
Deals and dollars
In Q1’16 payments startups saw a slight drop in deals but an increase in funding after a huge dropoff in dollars in Q4’15.
Some notable deals in Q1’16 include a $76M growth equity round to StoneEagle, a $55M Series A to Blockstream, and a $50M Series E to Aria Systems.
Payments startups reached record levels in funding and deal count in 2015.
Its worth noting the enormous spike in payments funding in Q3’15 is attributable to 3 deals: the $680M corporate minority to One97 Communications, $400M Series A to Ant Financial Services Group, and a $90M Series D to Stripe. Together, these three rounds accounted for 72% of funding in Q3’15.
Following the funding spike, deal volume hit a record high in Q4’15, with 83 deals, mainly going to US-based, UK-based, and India-based payments companies.
Check out the quarterly trends below.
Most well-funded payments startups
India-based One97 Communications is the most well-funded company on our list, and has raised over $1.3B in total funding. One97 Communications has more than triple the total funding of Alibaba-linked Ant Financial Services, which holds the number two spot.
Of note, Powa Technology, which made our list of well-funded companies in 2015, was forced into an asset sale after raising $227M and running into financial difficulties. It is one of 59 entries in our Downround Tracker.
| Rank | Company | Total Funding ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One97 Communications | $1,310 |
| 2 | Ant Financial Services Group | $400 |
| 3 | Affirm | $325 |
| 4 | Mozido | $314 |
| 5 | Klarna | $289 |
| 6 | Stripe | $280 |
| 7 | Adyen | $266 |
| 8 | Zuora | $243 |
| 9 | WorldRemit | $185 |
| 10 | iZettle | $177 |
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