Influential Fintechs 2021
The biggest and most influential fintech businesses
The world is currently experiencing a fintech (financial technology) boom, with the industry predicted to be valued at over $382 million by 2027.
Fintech refers to the merging of technology with financial services and is changing the way that we live and work with money and disrupting the old ways of doing
Fintech businesses can come in all forms, from investment and cryptocurrency platforms to payments and banking apps to help manage business utilities.
But which are the biggest and best fintechs in 2021 and where do the likes of Robinhood, Klarna, and Stripe rank when it comes to factors such as valuation, funding, social following, and online visibility.
The top five biggest fintechs of 2021
1. Robinhood
7.22
Overall Fintech score
Robinhood was the clear winner, as not only the most searched-for fintech on our list (with over 28 million searches in the last twelve months), but they’ve also raised the greatest VC funding with $5.6 billion.
Admittedly, much of that funding is accounted for by the emergency funds raised after the GameStock trading frenzy earlier this year, but there’s no denying that Robinhood is one of the big boys of the fintech world, with over 13 million users using the app to invest in stocks and funds commission-free.
2. Stripe
6.07
Overall Fintech score
Second place goes to Stripe, the software as a service company that has changed the game when it comes to payments, with no monthly or setup fees and no hidden costs.
Started by two brothers in Ireland, Stripe is now worth an estimated $95 bn having experienced rapid growth and are now investing in other startups such as Monzo.
3. Kraken
5.64
Overall Fintech score
Kraken is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and also was the most followed fintech company on our list, with a Twitter following of over 780,00, far more than the majority of other fintechs we looked at.
Now available in over 170 countries around the world, with over 70 cryptocurrencies available for trade Kraken also recently became the first crypto exchange in the United States to be granted a special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter.
4. Klarna
4.90
Overall Fintech score
“Buy now, pay later” is everywhere as a method of payment these days and that is largely down to Klarna.
With 26.3 million searches in the last year, consumers have adopted Klarna in a big way, as evidenced by their $31 billion valuation too.
Klarna has been adopted by a host of the biggest retailers in the world and has benefited from consumers flocking to eCommerce in their droves in the last year throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
5. Wise
3.12
Overall Fintech score
Wise (formerly known as TransferWise) provides online money transfers abroad at a fraction of the cost of traditional banks.
The recent rebrand came ahead of the company’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange, with a valuation of $11 billion.
Fintech Companies Ranked
KEY:
Funding
Latest valuation
Twitter followers
Annual search volume
Overall Fintech score
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Methodology
We analyzed the 50 fintech companies on Forbes’ 2021 Fintech 50 on the following four factors, giving each company a normalized score out of ten for each factor, before taking an average final score across all four factors.
Total funding raised according to Forbes.
Latest known valuation according to Forbes.
Number of Twitter followers as of September 9th, 2021.
Number of annual global searches between August 2020 and July 2021 according to Google Ads Keyword Planner.
