Tech Giants Google & Intel Are the Biggest Corporate Investors in Fintech

Google and Intel have concluded 37 and 16 deals respectively since 2010 and are the most active corporate investors in the fintech space, according to new findings from CB Insights.

In 2014, US$1.4 billion was injected into the fintech (financial technology services) space, highlighting investors’ growing appetite for the industry. This number is expected to double in 2015, says CB Insights, a service that tracks venture capital activities.

While financial services firms such as Citi, MasterCard, or American Express, have all massively invested in the space on the likes of Mozido, Dynamics or AppLabs Money Kenya, the most active players in fintech are actually the two American tech giants Google and Intel.

While Intel is very focused on payments and mobile payments technologies, Google has made 25 unique company investments across a wider spectrum, ranging from loans, personal saving, crowdfunding, to digital currency, with notable investments into Ripple Labs, Buttercoin and LedgerX.

Intel, on the other hand, has made large investments outside the US, most particularly into Swedish mobile payments startup iZettle, Estonian Fortunmo, and Brazilian e-commerce startup Elike.

EBay, the third top non-financial investor, is without surprise more focused on mobile commerce and ecommerce, and has backed among others, BillSafe, TradeShift and Branding Brand.

Investments from foreign corporations are on the rise as well, with Chinese RenRen who reportedly concluded 4 deals during the past year, against 8 for Google.

The social network giant is particularly focused on trading and financial management startups, with significant investments into Fundrise, Motif Investing and FiscalNote.

Japanese Ping An, on the other hand, has put its bets on investment network eToro, and Chinese online lending platform Lufax, among others.