CBInsights looks back at the most important fintech trends, funding news, major deals, active investors, and corporate activity over the past year in its recently published paper: The Global Fintech Report: 2016 in Review 

Tech market intelligence platform & software provider CBInsights has published The Global Fintech Report: 2016 in Review, which looks back at the part year of developments in the world of fintech. Although fintech refers to a wide range of organisations, business models, and technical applications, firms and companies tend to fall into a few key verticals. Below is a brief overview of the verticals covered in this CBInsights Fintech report:

Lending tech • Lending companies on the list include primarily peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, plus underwriter and lending platforms that use machine learning tech and algorithms to assess creditworthiness.

Payments & billing tech • Payments and billing tech companies include solutions that facilitate payments processing, payment card developers, and subscription billing software tools.

Personal finance & wealth management • Tech companies that help individuals manage their personal bills, accounts and / or credit, as well as with the management of personal assets and investments.

Money transfer & remittance • Money transfer companies tend to offer peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms for transferring money between individuals across countries.

Blockchain & bitcoin • Blockchain and bitcoin companies include software or technology firms in the distributed ledger space, ranging from bitcoin wallets to cyber security firms and side-chains.

Institutional & capital markets tech • Companies that provide institutions such as banks, hedge funds, mutual funds, or other institutional investors with tools ranging from alternative trading systems to financial modeling and analysis software.

Equity crowdfunding • Platforms that allow a collection of individuals to provide monetary contributions provisioned in the form of equity to projects or companies.

InsurTech • Firms that develop new and innovative claims, underwriting, distribution, and brokerage platforms, enhanced customer experience services, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions aimed at helping insurers cope with legacy IT issues.

According to the report, in 2016, global VC-backed fintech start-ups raised USD 12.7 billion over 836 deals – down 13% from the previous year. In total, 22 fintech unicorns (start-ups valued at more than $1bn) valued at USD 74 billion, including 11 in the U.S., four in Europe, and seven in Asia.

In comparison to the previous few years, fintech funding ‘mega-rounds’ reached a new low in both Europe and North America during Q4 2016. European VC-backed fintech deal activity, on the other hand, hit a five-year high; whereas fintech deals in the U.S. took a steep dip.

Thanks to a boost from China, Asia came out on top for fintech funding and deals, accounting for 43% of global fintech funding. The most productive and active VCs in global fintech in 2016 were 500 Startups, New Enterprise Associates, and General Catalyst.

To read or download the complete CBInsights Global Fintech Report: 2016 in Review, click here.