Analysis

July 29, 2021

Breakout fintechs of 2021: The ranking

We all know the Revolut, Klarnas and Monzo, but who else should be on your radar?


Isabel Woodford

2 min read

Juni co-founders Jonathan Sanders,Anders Orsedal

It's been a big six months for European fintech.

A dozen new financial unicorns have joined the stable, funding has reached record-breaking levels, and a wealth of IPOs are being lined up.

So it's time we updated our Europe-famous (soon to be world-famous) fintech ranking, which lists the most exciting financial startups in town.

We've cleaned up the data (courtesy of Dealroom), removed the dead weights and also welcomed several newbies onto the list.

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Over 30 new fintechs have ascended the ranks this year. The criteria for selection extended to those who, over the past 12 months, announced a notable Series A and B round*; or saw strong growth numbers or a healthy new valuation; or led an 'up-and-coming' sub-sector.

To dive straight into the 2021 fintech rankings, click here!

Or, if you can't wait, here's a sneak peek of the newbies that have made their debut:

  • Saltpay (UK)
  • Fintech OS (Romania)
  • Sorare (France)
  • Volt (UK)
  • Juni (Sweden)
  • Moneyhub (UK)
  • Tractable (UK)
  • Capchase (Spain)
  • Copper (UK) 
  • Clim8 (UK)
  • Yulife (UK)
  • Lovys (France)
  • Paysend (UK)
  • Scalable Capital (Germany)
  • Monisnap (France)
  • Finoa (Germany)
  • Nextmarkets (Germany)
  • Minna Technologies (Sweden)
  • Wealthpilot (Germany)
  • Nuri, previously bitwala (Germany)
  • Pento (Denmark)
  • WhenThen (Ireland)
  • Wagestream (UK)
  • Pollinate (UK)

Young ones to watch

Our rankings don't tend to include seed companies (that's why we compiled this list of Europe's hottest early-stage fintechs, for our members).

Nonetheless, we have also made a few exceptions for the following:

  • Collective Benefits (UK)
  • Assurly (France)
  • Raison (Estonia)
  • Limina (Sweden)
  • Airbank (Germany)
  • Treecard (UK)
**

For transparency, our 2021 ranking also said goodbye to fintechs that have been acquired or have gone public, given they no longer fall inside our definition of startups. No wonder they were on our list to watch in 2020!

These included: Nutmeg, eToro, LendInvest, Currencycloud, Tink, Twisto, Raisin and Deposit Solutions (which merged together).

Any questions, corrections or comments on the rankings, please email rankings@sifted.eu

Isabel Woodford is Sifted’s fintech correspondent. She tweets from @i_woodford