UK Fintech Firms Loses £1.4 Billion Due To Covid-19
UK Fintech Firms Loses approximately 68% of the 59 fintech funds, interviewed for the research have reported missing out on important funding thanks to the continuing pandemic. The typical amount lost by each fintech business to this point runs to approximately £1.2m.
As the UK is home to over 1,600 fintech companies, it means an estimated £1.4bn of investment has disappeared, as funding sources dry up.
Qadir – which provides a blockchain platform for recording and reconciling transfer of ownership – says inefficient equity management processes among fintech are exacerbating the crisis.
With almost three-quarters of firms hoping on Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets for cap table management, 59% of the sample report having to delay projects, and 32% have lost out on funding because of inefficient equity management.
Worryingly, 61% of founders believe that point spent on equity management has impaired their ability to deliver a product or scale their business, says Nick Williamson, CEO of Qadir.
“Equity management isn’t just inconvenient, it’s damaging UK fintech,” says Williamson. “It has never been more important for fintech to streamline unnecessary tasks and specialize in developing products and services which will help them stay this storm.”
Venture capital funding for Fintechs (globally) had a terrible Q1 2020. This, because the COVID-19 crisis adversely affected private capital markets, crash-landed the once robust market, thus the UK Fintech Firms Loses money.
CBI insights reported that Q1 2020 was one of the worst quarters for Fintech funding in years. Investors pulled back, mega-rounds stalled globally, and China reported just 129 deals, raising $175 million, during the quarter – the worst reported since 2015. Seed and angel rounds dropped to a 5 quarter low.
Global Fintech funding totaled $6.079 billion during Q1 versus the identical quarter year prior to $7.14 billion and the UK Fintech Firms Loses its quarterly funding.