Fintech
Q3 202405.08.2024

Wealthtech (2024)

Picture of Tom Matsuda

Tom Matsuda

at Sifted

Europe’s wealthtechs were some of fintech’s biggest winners in the 2020 tech boom. But in the post-pandemic lull that followed, the UK’s Freetrade, and continental offerings such as Trade Republic, Scalable Capital and Bux, have all experienced lacklustre growth according to SplitMetrics data, which counts app downloads. For example, Bux has seen an 86% decline while Freetrade dropped by 43% compared to the previous year. Both fintechs also cut staff amid a VC slowdown.

This year, the sector is showing signs of heating up again with US wealthtech giant Robinhood finally launching in the UK — its third attempted launch in the country. Not only will the US company go up against Europe’s wealthtechs but it’ll also have to convince Europeans — who are typically more comfortable with cash-based investments — to invest more in stocks. There’s a lot of opportunity here, Wander Rutgers, the COO of London investment app Lightyear, told Sifted in March — and a big potential prize for any company that can help alter European investment habits.

20 startups to watch

  • Sidekick logo

    Sifted score

    7.84
    -

    Sidekick

    • Strong investor(s)
    • Serial founder(s)
    • Hiring
    • Year founded

      2022

    • HQ

      London, United Kingdom

    • Latest round

      Seed
      3.9m / Jun 2024

    • Total funding

      3.9m

  • Midas logo

    Sifted score

    7.26
    -

    Midas

    • Strong investor(s)
    • Hiring
    • Year founded

      2020

    • HQ

      Istanbul, Türkiye

    • Latest round

      Series A
      40.9m / Apr 2024

    • Total funding

      51.8m

  • Spiko logo

    Sifted score

    6.58
    -

    Spiko

    • Strong investor(s)
    • Year founded

      2023

    • HQ

      Paris, France

    • Latest round

      Seed
      3.6m / Jun 2024

    • Total funding

      3.6m

  • Theia Insights logo

    Sifted score

    6.4
    -

    Theia Insights

    • Serial founder(s)
    • Year founded

      2022

    • HQ

      Cambridge, United Kingdom

    • Latest round

      Seed
      5.9m / Mar 2024

    • Total funding

      5.9m

  • Timeless logo

    Sifted score

    6.23
    -

    Timeless

    • Strong investor(s)
    • Serial founder(s)
    • Year founded

      2020

    • HQ

      Berlin, Germany

    • Latest round

      Early VC
      11.5m / Feb 2024

    • Total funding

      23.5m

Related Briefings

Related articles

Revolut unveils facial recognition payments in UK

September 24, 2026

Revolut unveils facial recognition payments in UK

The system will initially be available at Kiss the Hippo coffee shops across London

By Martin Coulter
Nscale helped ByteDance subsidiary access Nvidia chips, swerving US rules — reports

September 23, 2026

Nscale helped ByteDance subsidiary access Nvidia chips, swerving US rules — reports

By Martin Coulter
Magic AI raises £8m to take its AI-powered fitness mirror to the US

September 23, 2026

Magic AI raises £8m to take its AI-powered fitness mirror to the US

By Martin Coulter
Anthropic and Nvidia back Basecamp Research in $140m round

September 23, 2026

Anthropic and Nvidia back Basecamp Research in $140m round

Anthropic and Nvidia back Basecamp Research in $140m round
By Freya Pratty
‘You cannot hide from AI’: Should we fear AI-led performance reviews?
Startup lifeAnalysis

September 23, 2026

‘You cannot hide from AI’: Should we fear AI-led performance reviews?

‘You cannot hide from AI’: Should we fear AI-led performance reviews?
By Éanna Kelly
What if companies could finally use their most valuable data?
Artificial intelligencePaid for and produced by

September 23, 2026

What if companies could finally use their most valuable data?

What if companies could finally use their most valuable data?
Paid for and produced by Vast Data
Exclusive: Connect Ventures raises $55m in first close of fifth fund to chase deeptech founders

September 23, 2026

Exclusive: Connect Ventures raises $55m in first close of fifth fund to chase deeptech founders

By Anne Sraders

Pro

Exclusive: Vsquared and East X Ventures lead £10m seed for rare materials startup

September 23, 2026

Exclusive: Vsquared and East X Ventures lead £10m seed for rare materials startup

By Maya Dharampal-Hornby

Pro

Qdrant’s next chapter: From vector search into physical AI
DataInterview

September 23, 2026

Qdrant’s next chapter: From vector search into physical AI

Qdrant founders
By Federico Scolari

Pro

From one of Europe’s biggest fintech exits to bootstrapping an AI startup: ‘There’s no limitation’
FintechExclusive

September 23, 2026

From one of Europe’s biggest fintech exits to bootstrapping an AI startup: ‘There’s no limitation’

Left to right in the photo: Fredrik Hedberg (Co-founder), Amanda Hultman, Ruben Das (Lead Engineer), Daniel Kjellén (CEO, Co-founder), and Adam Ivarsson (Co-founder).
By Damisola Sulaiman

Pro

Cloud startup Verda raises $189m in funding round led by Emergence Capital

September 22, 2026

Cloud startup Verda raises $189m in funding round led by Emergence Capital

By Martin Coulter
Exclusive: Mistral acquires adtech startup Pimento in €12.7m cash-and-shares deal, filings show

September 22, 2026

Exclusive: Mistral acquires adtech startup Pimento in €12.7m cash-and-shares deal, filings show

By Daphné Leprince-Ringuet
Exclusive: NIF backs defence startup Terasi in €11m raise
Defence techExclusive

September 22, 2026

Exclusive: NIF backs defence startup Terasi in €11m raise

The NATO Innovation Fund confirmed details of its first investment in a Swedish startup

By Martin Coulter

Pro

A16z wants to back more European startups — but won’t reopen European office anytime soon

September 22, 2026

A16z wants to back more European startups — but won’t reopen European office anytime soon

Anish Acharya of Andreessen Horowitz
By Anne Sraders

Pro

N8n boss: ‘Our goal is to get to 1bn users with fewer than 1,000 employees'
AI agentsInterview

September 22, 2026

N8n boss: ‘Our goal is to get to 1bn users with fewer than 1,000 employees'

By Éanna Kelly

Pro

Exclusive: GFC, Firstminute back Palantir and Goldman alums to take on the Big Four
FintechExclusive

September 22, 2026

Exclusive: GFC, Firstminute back Palantir and Goldman alums to take on the Big Four

Exclusive: GFC, Firstminute back Palantir and Goldman alums to take on the Big Four
By Freya Pratty

Pro

London Demo Day 2026: startups to watch

September 21, 2026

London Demo Day 2026: startups to watch

London Demo Day, the annual event where university-founded startups pitch for capital, returned this month

By Oshin Narang

Pro

New solo GP firm backing early-stage AI and deeptech startups hits first close of maiden fund

September 21, 2026

New solo GP firm backing early-stage AI and deeptech startups hits first close of maiden fund

By Tom Nugent

Pro

Europe’s advantage: moving AI from the screen to the real world

September 21, 2026

Europe’s advantage: moving AI from the screen to the real world

Headshot of John Thornhill, Sifted's cofounder and editorial director.
By John Thornhill

Pro

UK Sovereign AI Fund in talks to back raise for drug discovery startup

September 18, 2026

UK Sovereign AI Fund in talks to back raise for drug discovery startup

By Martin Coulter
The biggest conversations in US VC right now

September 18, 2026

The biggest conversations in US VC right now

From personal AI agents to the rising cost of AI compute, here's what they're chatting about

By Anne Sraders

Pro

‘It’s the modern nuclear arms race’: safety expert Denis Shilov on slowing down AI

September 18, 2026

‘It’s the modern nuclear arms race’: safety expert Denis Shilov on slowing down AI

Denis Shilov, cofounder of White Circle
By Daphné Leprince-Ringuet

Pro

Inside London's weirdest neolab
AI agentsInterview

September 18, 2026

Inside London's weirdest neolab

Inherent cofounders (L-R): Louis Kirsch, Kaloyan Aleksiev, Tantum Collins, Edward Hughes. Image provided by Inherent.
By Maya Dharampal-Hornby

Pro

EU Scaleup Fund in talks to back ElevenLabs in $500m round, reports say

September 17, 2026

EU Scaleup Fund in talks to back ElevenLabs in $500m round, reports say

ElevenLabs cofounders Piotr Dąbkowski and Mati Staniszewski
By Martin Coulter