Fintech funding had a rough start to the year. In Q1 2023 it dropped faster than any other sector in Europe.
But not everyone is struggling. There are still success stories to be found, and the companies that do have cash in the bank have been focusing their attention on growing headcount.
Just as last year’s list of the fastest growing teams didn’t feature any of the startups that were in 2021’s top 10, the same is true of this year’s lineup — with the exception of payments infrastructure startup Kevin, which placed ninth in 2022.
So, which companies have taken the top spots instead? Using data from Dealroom, Sifted has pulled together the 10 fastest growing fintechs in Europe based on headcount over the last 12 months — companies had to have raised at least $50m in funding to be considered, in order to eliminate the growth of tiny teams.
Europe's fastest-growing fintechs
Kroo
Founded: 2016
Team growth past 12 months: 137% to 216 employees
Last raised: $33m Series B in May 2022
Total funding: $57.5m
UK-based Kroo is a digital bank which offers interest on current account balances and partners with a reforestation project to plant trees for every new customer that joins the service. The app also offers spending insights and categorises transactions.
Keyrock
Founded: 2017
Team growth past 12 months: 95% to 123 employees
Last raised: $72m Series B in November 2022
Total funding: $77.7m
Belgian startup Keyrock buys and sells digital assets to free up liquidity in both centralised and decentralised marketplaces. It also offers users insights and statistics to inform trading.
Kevin.
Founded: 2018
Team growth past 12 months: 64% to 270 employees
Last raised: $65m Series A in May 2022
Total funding: $79m
Payments infrastructure scaleup kevin, based in Lithuania, helps businesses accept payments without intermediaries and customise the checkout experience.
IMMO Capital
Founded: 2017
Team growth past 12 months: 89% to 267 employees
Last raised: $75m Series B in April 2022
Total funding: $90.4m
UK-based IMMO Capital offers a platform to invest in residential real estate portfolios, opening up the number of properties that institutional investors can be involved with by including rental houses.
Stenn
Founded: 2015
Team growth past 12 months: 87% to 193 employees
Last raised: $200m debt round in February 2023
Total funding: $825m ($50m in equity/$775m in debt/lending capital)
UK-based Stenn offers invoice financing options for businesses that want to access cash from outstanding invoices quicker and improve their cash flow. Companies "sell" their invoices to Stenn without affecting the credit rating of the business, and it can serve users around the world.
KI Insurance
Founded: 2020
Team growth past 12 months: 86% to 164 employees
Last raised: $500m growth equity in September 2020
Total funding: $500m
Ki Insurance is a digital syndicate within the Lloyd's of London insurance market, for brokers working in underwriting.
Satispay
Founded: 2013
Team growth past 12 months: 86% to 527 employees
Last raised: €320m Series D in September 2022
Total funding: $523m (€481m)
Satispay became Italy’s second unicorn when it raised a massive €320m Series D last year. The company offers merchants and customers a quick and easy way to send payments that aren’t connected to a specific credit card or bank, using phone numbers or International Bank Account Numbers instead.
Dune Analytics
Founded: 2018
Team growth past 12 months: 86% to 69 employees
Last raised: $69.4m Series B in February 2022
Total funding: $79.4m
Norwegian fintech Dune Analytics provides a community led platform of analytics and data tools for the Ethereum market.
Pigment
Founded: 2019
Team growth past 12 months: 79% to 271 employees
Last raised: €80m Series C in May 2023
Total funding: $244m (€224m)
French business planning platform Pigment — which topped Sifted's B2B soonicorns to watch list — helps teams budget and forecast for future financials by collating data into one place, offering real-time modelling and allowing companies to run “what if” scenarios to predict outcomes.
Elwood Technologies
Founded: 2018
Team growth past 12 months: 61% to 171 employees
Last raised: $70m Series A in May 2022
Total funding: $70m
Elwood Technologies is building a platform to support the trade of digital assets by institutions and financial service providers.
This article was last updated on August 22 2023.
