Asia fintech deals near US$10b amid mega funding in China

Massive deals in mainland China have lifted overall financial technology (fintech) investments in Asia-Pacific to a record US$9.623 billion in the past seven months, eclipsing the size of transactions in North America and Europe for the same period.

Total fintech investments in the region had skyrocketed on the back of the US$4.5 billion round of private equity financing by Alibaba Group Holding affiliate Ant Financial Services in April.

That oversized financing round by Ant, which operates Chinese online payment platform Alipay, became the world’s largest single private placement by an internet company.

New York-listed Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Data released on Thursday by global consulting firm Accenture and venture capital database CB Insights showed fintech investments in mainland China reached US$8.848 billion by the end of July, which made up the bulk of deals in Asia-Pacific during the first seven months of this year.

James Giancotti, the chief executive at start-up ratings agency Oddup, predicted fintech investments in Asia would continue moving forward in the next two to three years but said “the Ant Financial funding was a rare occurrence and should be treated as such”.