Author: nripn

Most stable tech sectors looked very different in early 2024 than they do today. The 2024 framing pointed at three: AI, cybersecurity, and fintech. Eighteen months and 245,000 tech layoffs later, only one of those held up cleanly, one held up only at the top of the pyramid, and the third produced its biggest stories above the surface rather than in hiring. Tech industry layoffs hit nearly 245,000 in 2025 globally, with about 70% from US-headquartered companies, and Q1 2026 alone added another 78,557 cuts. Roughly 48% of those cuts have been AI-attributed, which is the through-line that reshaped what…

Fintech revolution offers multiple new advantages for mid-career professionals in 2026, even as the broader tech sector has shed 245,000 jobs over the past 18 months. The 2024 thesis that experienced operators had unusual leverage in fintech turned out to be more right than wrong. AI has eaten entry-level workflows faster than mid-career specialists, and senior fintech roles in infrastructure, compliance, and AI safety remain the cleanest paths into stable employment. The headline reset is real. Block cut roughly 40% of its workforce in 2026, Microsoft burned through three layoff rounds, and Amazon shed 16,000 roles. Yet fintech jobs in…

Baltic fintech players have quietly become one of Europe’s most concentrated startup clusters. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania often get overlooked by global business leaders, yet the three countries have built dense fintech ecosystems spanning more than 500 active companies. Wise (formerly TransferWise) in Estonia, Vinted in Lithuania, and Revolut all carry unicorn valuations above $1 billion, anchoring the region’s reputation in payments, lending, and digital banking. Each country has its own angle. Estonia leads the world in unicorns per capita. Latvia has built specialist depth in anti-money-laundering compliance. Lithuania has scaled from a handful of fintech firms to more than…

Finance professionals leaving the UK sector now sit at 72%, according to the Medius Financial Census published this week. The survey of UK finance staff also found that 75% would not recommend a career in finance to Gen Z workers born between 1996 and 2010. Burnout, below-market compensation, and persistent administrative overhead emerged as the top three drivers behind the exodus. Together, the data points to a structural retention problem that goes beyond the standard post-pandemic churn cycle. Medius is an accounts payable automation vendor headquartered in Sweden with a UK office in London. The Financial Census drew on responses…

Fintech acquisitions returned to the deal table in March 2024 after a quiet 2023, with several announcements landing across UK retail banking, Danish SME lending, Swiss revenue-based financing, open banking payments, and UK adviser technology. The fintech acquisitions covered below were announced between 4 March and 26 March 2024, with buyers based in the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland. The fintech acquisitions backdrop in 2023 was a year of reduced deal flow. Only 128 M&A deals were recorded in the first half of 2023, compared with 248 in the first half of 2022 and 188 in the second half. According…

Fintech IPO Index activity centred on deal news in early April 2024, with the index falling 2.9% over the week. The Fintech IPO Index drop came even as the two largest movers, Nuvei and Doma Holdings, gained ground on news of agreed take-private transactions, while Sezzle shares plunged 29.6% on disclosed short-seller interest. Fintech IPO Index Performance for the Week The Fintech IPO Index dropped 2.9% over the week, with deals dominating the headlines. Nuvei shares gained 2.4% after announcing an agreed take-private deal with Advent International. Doma Holdings shares jumped 37.4% on its agreed merger with Title Resources Group.…

European fintech acquisitions returned to the deal calendar in June 2024, with four announcements landing across UK retail banking, French SME banking, Swedish e-commerce checkout software, and German point-of-sale systems. The European fintech acquisitions covered below were announced between 14 June and 24 June 2024, and involved buyers from the United Kingdom, Denmark, the United States, and a Stockholm-based investor consortium. The European fintech acquisitions backdrop in 2023 was a year of reduced deal flow. Only 128 M&A deals were recorded in the first half of 2023, compared with 248 in the first half of 2022 and 188 in the…

Mid-market fintech and payments companies attracted increased private equity (PE) buyout interest in Q1 2024, according to a May 2024 analyst note from PitchBook titled “Quarterly Fintech M&A Review: PE Goes After Middle-Market Fintechs”. The mid-market fintech segment, which sits between small early-stage startups and large established players, has drawn buyer attention for its growth potential, profit margin stability, and customer base scale. Mid-market fintech companies typically generate moderate revenues with moderate market presence and often specialise in specific products or services tailored to mid-sized business or consumer customers. PitchBook’s note identified five data points and example transactions that frame…

Cross-border payments provider Corpay, Inc. (NYSE: CPAY) signed a definitive agreement on 19 June 2024 to acquire GPS Capital Markets, LLC, a US-based provider of business-to-business cross-border and treasury management solutions to upper middle market companies. Corpay’s investor presentation accompanying the announcement disclosed a transaction value of $725 million. GPS Capital Markets ranks as the third largest acquisition in Corpay’s history, according to comments from Chairman and CEO Ron Clarke in the announcement. The deal expands Corpay’s existing cross-border payments capabilities and slots into the company’s Corporate Payments segment, which Corpay has stated it expects to scale to nearly $2…

Fintech mergers and acquisitions in 2023 came against a backdrop of reduced deal activity, with PitchBook recording only 128 M&A deals in the first half of the year compared with 248 in H1 2022 and 188 in H2 2022. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the segments still drawing fintech mergers interest in 2023 included payments, treasury management software, and corporate spinoffs. Despite the contraction, several large fintech mergers and acquisitions closed or were announced through the year. The 10 biggest fintech mergers of 2023 spanned payments processing, capital markets infrastructure, investment management software, insurance technology, and neobanking, with disclosed…