Europe is home to more than 9,000 fintechs. It has produced global champions such as Wise, Klarna, and Adyen in payments, Revolut and Monzo in banking, and Mambu in B2B software. Across the Atlantic, the United States plays host to more than 13,000 fintechs, with leaders like Stripe, PayPal, and Chime. Both continents coexist and compete to produce the most influential companies in financial technology, though the paths taken and outcomes achieved often vary widely.
European fintechs raised €3.6 billion in the first half of 2025, 23% higher than in the same period in 2024, with funding on track to reach €7.6 billion for the year. In 2021, this total reached almost €16 billion. But 2021 was an anomaly, a sugar-high: a liquidity-driven bubble when venture investment hit record highs. We don’t expect to see those levels for another five to seven years, nor should we seek to recreate that. What matters now is building stamina, not chasing another rush. European fintech funding is on a steady path, tracking at 2019 levels.
The challenge for European markets isn’t chasing bubbles but building durable ecosystems where capital formation is balanced and sustainable. European scale-ups have long scaled under tighter capital constraints than their American counterparts. The result is companies built on sturdier foundations, less vulnerable to the ups and downs of funding markets. But also, a persistent excess demand for capital and, in turn, more reasonably priced assets in the small-to-mid-market.
