Between 2011 and 2012, venture capital deal activity to international payments tech firms grew 114%. Venture capital funding to international payments startups is now 38% of all VC funding to the payments space.
From digital wallets to mobile point-of-sales devices, the payments tech space is growing fast. In just 12 months, investors put nearly $780M into payments startups across 140 deals. But while many of the largest private payments companies reside in the U.S. including Square and Braintree, investors are increasingly betting on the growth of international payments upstarts. (On an unrelated note, Braintree was recently rumored to be on-the-block with Square and Paypal interested in the company)
In 2013 year-to-date, international payments startups captured 31% of deal activity in the industry compared to just 12% in 2008. And on a year-over-year basis, international payments deals jumped 114% from 2011 to 2012, while domestic deals ticked up just 7% over the same period. The chart below highlights the strong deal growth from the international markets within the payments tech space.
Venture capital funding to international payments startups is also growing at a rapid clip. 2012 saw internationally-based payments firms garner over $300M in funding, including China-based LianLianPay’s $125M corporate minority investment from American Express and Sweden-based iZettle’s $31M Series B round from investors including MasterCard and Greylock Partners. And funding to international payments firms is continuing to climb in 2013. After capturing 29% of all funding in the payments tech space in 2012, international startups have taken 38% of overall funding in 2013 YTD.
