The fintech world has been going through a sort of an IPO freeze recently. The headwinds created by certain fintechs this year (looking at you, LendingClub) didn’t help much either.
Venture capital funding continued to fall in the third quarter, according to data from KPMG Enterprise and CB Insights. Global financing fell 14%, to $24.1 billion in the third quarter compared to the previous one — the lowest level in two years. But not all is bad: the number of fintech deals inched up over the quarter to a total of 1,983.
Several companies in the field have tapped VCs for considerable funding in 2016, and, experts say, these are the four fintechs that will soon be cracking open the IPO door.
Transferwise
This London-based money movement startup topped $1 billion in valuation past summer, most recently raising $26 million in a Series E round.
“I find them interesting as they have some very high profile investors, the valuation has sky rocketed and they have changed their approach of publicly slamming legacy banks to wanting to partner with banks,” Paul Mears, advisor at money transfer firm Moneymailme (and an angel investor), told Bank Innovation. “I am looking at an IPO here as I think that many investors will want at least a partial exit and if they get an IPO away at a good value, it can help validate the model of valuation of money transfer businesses.”
SoFi
SoFi, just like the rest of the alternative lenders out there, has had a tough year. The company announced publicly that it will be pushing back its plans for an IPO in order to focus on other business lines. The company is still in the process of closing a $500 million funding round, the success (?) of which may determine whether the company will change its mind on going public.
“Sofi has said they will likely delay, but I could see them going if market conditions allow,” according to Matthew Harris, managing partner at Bain Capital Ventures.
Ant Financial
The Alibaba affiliate that operates the payments platform Alipay, Ant Financial, made quite the headlines this year: the company completed, what was called, the largest private tech raise ever, bringing in $4.5 billion on a $60 billion valuation. “It will be interesting to see what plans they say they have to move outside of the Asia area. The number of users they have already blows away what we would consider great numbers in EU or Americas,” Mears said.
The company said previously that it plans to sign up 2 billion users — a third of the population — in 10 years time for the pipeline of its fintech businesses. “Having the support of the Ali Baba Group makes this a huge opportunity, and I believe could be the biggest fintech IPO of 2017.”
Credit Karma
The free credit score provider and lending lead generator, Credit Karma, is one of the most likely IPO candidates for 2017. This year, the company hit a new milestone, surpassing 60 million users. The company said it adds 1 million to 2 million users each month.
Credit Karma, consistently voted to have one of the most popular financial mobile apps, was founded in 2007 and has raised $368 million of venture funding to date. The company, according to Harris, has the scale and growth to make a “terrific public company.”