Global venture funding to fintech startups increased by 27% in 2025 to its highest level in several quarters, boosted by later-stage deals, Crunchbase data shows.
All told, global venture funding to financial technology startups totaled $51.8 billion for the year compared to $40.8 billion in 2024, per Crunchbase data. The investors who provided all that capital included a mix of private equity and alternative investors, with venture capital firms and accelerators next in line.
Interestingly, the most-active investor in the space by far all year, in terms of deal volume, was startup accelerator Y Combinator, which participated in 151 deals involving fintech startups last year. That’s up 24.8% compared to the 121 deals it wrote checks into in 2024.
The next most-active investor in 2025, Antler, participated in nearly one-third as many deals, taking part in 51 rounds.
YC also topped the list of most-active investors in rounds of $5 million or above, participating in 64 such transactions. That’s up 146% compared to the 26 such deals that YC participated in during all of 2024, signaling a huge spike in interest on the accelerator’s part in the space. (We reached out to YC for comment, but didn’t hear back.)
Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz was next, writing checks into exactly half as many investments (32). Its pace was also up — by more than 50% — compared to 20 fintech deals over $5 million in 2024. A16z was also one of the most-active venture investors globally across all startup sectors last year, per Crunchbase data.
Other active fintech investors include other accelerators and the usual suspects, per Crunchbase data: Coinbase Ventures, FJ Labs, Plug and Play, General Catalyst, Techstars, Ribbit Capital, Accel and QED Investors.
Leading $100M+ rounds
When it comes to leading or co-leading rounds of $100 million or more, MGX, Intercontinental Exchange, Sequoia Capital, Paradigm and Citadel Securities topped the list, Crunchbase data shows.
Notably, many of the largest deals involved blockchain or crypto companies and prediction marketplaces.
- In October, trading prediction market Polymarket raised $2 billion in a deal led by NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange.
- In March, cryptocurrency exchange Binance received a massive $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX.
- And in early December, New York-based Kalshi announced it raised $1 billion in Series E funding at an $11 billion valuation. Crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm led the financing. That raise came shortly after the company raised a $300 million Series D co-led by a16z and Sequoia at a $5 billion valuation.
- Crypto exchange Kraken in November raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation.
Post-seed lead investors
When it comes to leading or co-leading post-seed rounds, Sequoia Capital and Ribbit Capital tied for first place, with each firm doing so for a total of 11 fintech investments in 2025. That’s up from leading or co-leading six and five deals, respectively, in 2024.
QED Investors, a16z and Accel tied for third with 10 deals each. For QED, the pace was the same as in 2024, when it also led or co-led 10 post-seed fintech investments. However, it was a big jump for a16z, which had only led or co-led two post-seed fintech deals in 2024.
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
