Private Funding for FinTech Firms Has Taken a Tumble
An employee monitors financial data as toy bear and bull figurines sit on a desk inside FinTech Group AG's campus offices.
Photographer: Krisztian BocsiThe hottest new things in financial technology are proving to be lukewarm this year.
Funding for startups in the financial technology space — which includes robo advisors, marketplace lenders and blockchain technology firms — fell 17 percent to $2.9 billion in the third quarter, according to a new report from KPMG International and CB Insights. North America in particular saw a big hit, with funding for venture capital-backed fintech companies in the region falling 68 percent compared to the same quarter last year — a period which saw massive rounds of $100 million or more from Social Finance Inc., Avant Inc. and Kabbage Inc.