• Reports
• 06.06.2023 11:07 pm

Who will be who?

Welcome to the Fintech Pathfinder, an interactive database of fintech start-up companies that has been compiled since mid-2021 by Financial IT’s research team.

Saving time and money

The database serves several functions. 

Most obviously it seeks to make it cheap and easy for subscribers to find out key details about emerging fintech companies around the world. Specifically, the Fintech Pathfinder identifies for each company:

• The year in which it was founded.

• The city where it is based.

• The broad line of business in which the company is active.

• The company’s own description of itself.

• Its size in terms of number of employees.

• Its estimated annual revenue.

• The number and names of the founders.

• Its funding stage.

• The total number of funding rounds.

• The timing and the amount of the latest funding round.

• Total funding received from Venture Capital (VC) funds and other ‘angel’ investors since its establishment.

• The number and identities of the lead investors.

• The total number of investors.

• Estimated overall valuation of the company.

Identifying where the action will be

As we explain in the description of the methodology, the Fintech Pathfinder only includes companies that meet certain criteria. Of these criteria the most important are that the company is unlisted and that it is no more than 10 years old.

Of particular importance are the funding rounds that have taken place in the last two years.  How much has been raised in each of the various rounds that may have taken place? What has been the period between the various rounds? How large is the funding relative to the appraised overall valuation of the company?

Other things being equal, a company that has completed several funding rounds in rapid succession, and which has raised sums that are substantial relative to the assessed value, is one where the investors and the managers perceive that there are good opportunities for the company in the coming two years or so.

Conversely, a company that has not completed any funding rounds in the last two years may be one where opportunities are seen as being less exciting.

A company that is in the first group is, therefore, one that may evolve and grow rapidly over the coming two years. At very least, it is very probably a fintech to watch.

The mainstream and financial media do a good job of discussing fintech companies that have become substantial and (usually) listed businesses.

The rankings that can be produced from the Fintech Pathfinder show where - according to insiders - the action is most likely to take place in the future.

The Fintech Pathfinder is not really about the question, within the world of fintech, of Who is Who? It deals with the question of Who will be Who?