India fintech funding drops to $300 mn in H1 2019: KPMG Report

Investment in the Indian fintech sector dropped nearly 50% to about $300 million in the first half of 2019 against the same period last year, according to a report by consultancy firm KPMG.

The lower investments were not unique to India; the trend was seen across Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, the report said.

Global fintech funding also got off to a slow start during the first half of 2019 with $37.9 billion across 962 deals.

Fintech investment in Asia dropped in the first half of 2019 to $3.6 billion across 102 deals compared to 2018.

China did not witness blockbuster deals like last year due to saturation in the payments sector, regulatory scrutiny and tensions arising out of the US-China trade war, which could be the reason for the investment slowdown in the overall Asia Pacific region, the report said.

Among the top 10 fintech deals in Asia Pacific in H1 2019, the report mentioned the $85 million investment by financial services company Visa in the Mumbai-based payments gateway company BillDesk.