The 11 Largest Fintech Deals of 2016

After posting new highs in the first quarter of 2016, investments in VC-backed fintech companies have slowed down quite dramatically.

According to CB Insights (pdf), fintech funding in the second quarter of year was at $2.5 billion – nearly half of the previous quarter’s $4.9 billion – while deal count slumped from 221 to 195.

How did this happen? Sky-high startup valuations is one reason, and the fracas surrounding LendingClub appears to be another. The Brexit? Yep, that took some wind out of fintech’s sails, too.

Still though, all signs point to an industry still in expansion mode, and some firms are still posting solid, nay, impressive funding rounds.

Some, however, were a little more than just impressive. Here are the 11 largest fintech deals of 2016:

11. Bright Health, $80 million. Minneapolis-based health insurance startup Bright Health scored $80 million in its Series A round back in April. Led by Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates, the funding was meant to support the company’s nationwide roll-out and planned expansions.

10. Betterment, $100 million. The robo-advisory giant, which boasts roughly $4 billion in assets under management, raked in $100 million during its Series E round in late March. Kinnevik, a Swedish investment company, led the round while previous investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, and Francisco Partners participated. The deal valued Betterment at $700 million.

9. Affirm, $100 million. San Francisco-based consumer lending company Affirm raised $100 million during its Series C round earlier this year. It was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and it pegged the firm’s value at $800 million. Affirm counts a lot of big VCs as its investors: its Series B round was led by Spark Capital Growth, and included Jefferies, Andreessen Horowitz, and existing investors Lightspeed and Khosla Ventures.

8. Weidai, $153 million. Hangzhou-based P2P lending platform Weidai received roughly $153 million during its Series C back in May. Shanghai-headquartered Vision Knight Capital led the funding. Weidai had previously raised $24 million from Hakim Co., a Shenzhen-listed smart building or city services provider.

7. WeLab, $160 million. WeLab, the company behind mobile lending platforms Woladai and WeLend.hk, scored one of world’s largest Series B fintech fundraisings when its raised $160 million from a group of international investors. The group was led by the Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and included ING Bank and China’s state-owned Guangdong Technology Financial Group.

6. Clover Health, $160 million. The second health insurance startup on our list, Clover Health raked in $160 million in Series C funding back in May. The round was led by Greenoaks Capital, which saw one of its partners join Clover’s board, and involved existing investors Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, and Nexus Ventures, among others.

5. Fenqile, $235 million. Fenqile, an over 10 million user-strong student micro loan startup, landed an immense $235 million during its Series C round. Huasheng Capital, the CoBuilder Partners Venture Fund, and an unnamed Chinese insurer led the funding. Shenzhen-based Fenqile, which claims to be one of the largest student loan and installment payments platforms in China, counts heavies such as JD and Sequoia China among its previous investors.

4. Oscar Health Insurance, $400 million. New York-based Oscar Health Insurance, which counts Google Capital and the Founders Fund among its investors, saw its value balloon to $2.7 billion earlier this year after it secured $400 million in Series C funding. The round was led by mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments.

3. JD Finance, $1.01 billion. JD Finance, the financial services arm of Chinese e-commerce behemoth JD.com, scored a staggering $1.01 billion venture round in February of this year. It was co-led by China Taiping Insurance, Harvest Global Investments, and Sequoia China. Along with that sum, the firm received a pretty nice $7 billion valuation.

2. Lu.com, $1.22 billion. How’s this for a Series B? Lu.com, the Chinese P2P lender formerly known as Lufax, raised $1.22 billion from investors earlier this year to make it one of the world’s most valuable fintech startups. It isn’t clear who led the round, though state-owned food purveyor COFCO and investment bank Guotai Junan were reportedly among the investors. The funding valued Lu.com at $18.5 billion.

1. Ant Financial, $4.5 billion. The biggest deal this year is none other than Ant Financial’s record-breaking $4.5 billion fundraising round. The round, which valued the Alibaba affiliate at $60 billion, included CIC Capital, the China Post Group, and a subsidiary of state-owned China Construction Bank Corp. This is, to date, the world’s largest private fundraising round.

Photo: leighklotz