A pair of Canadian companies, Wealthsimple and League, are among the world’s leading fintech innovators, Sydney-based fintech investment firm H2 Ventures and KPMG Fintech announced Tuesday.
In the 2018 Fintech 100, a ranking based on several factors, including venture capital activity, geographic and sector diversity, Toronto-based online advisory firm Wealthsimple Inc. places 25th; and online employee benefits firm League Inc., also of Toronto, places 39th.
A couple of other top 100 firms are active in Canada. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based personal finance startup, Cleo, serves customers in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, and online lender Kabbage recently announced a partnership with Bank of Nova Scotia that will allow clients in both Canada and Mexico to apply for small business loans.
The U.S. leads the way with 18 companies on the list, including three in the top 10, while the U.K. ranks second with 12 companies on the list. China is third with 11 firms including Ant Financial in first place, JD Finance in second and Baidu, in fourth place overall.
In total, 36 different countries are represented on this year’s list, up from 29 in 2017. By industry sector, payments companies lead the way, accounting for 34 of the top 100, followed by lending, with 22 representatives, and wealth management, with 14 firms.
“The 2018 Fintech100 showcases the increasing diversity and scale of the global fintech market,” says Ian Pollari, global co-lead of KPMG Fintech, in a statement.
“Payments and lending continue to be the dominant sectors, however wealth management is taking off, with 14 companies on the list and insurtech remains strong with 12 companies. Notable this year is the emergence of neo banks, with 10 on the list – which is the beginning of what we believe will be accelerated growth of digital banking models globally,” he adds.
“Venture capital backing of fintech companies continues to accelerate,” says Ben Heap, founding partner at H2 Ventures, in a statement. “The companies on the 2018 list have raised over US$52 billion in venture capital, more than double the total of last year’s list, and more than US$27 billion of capital in the past 12 months, a 366% increase over last year.”