NEWSBYTE Investment in the regulatory technology (RegTech) sector is surging ahead, according to the latest figures.
Funding more than doubled year on year to hit $18.9 billion in 2021, driven by multiple deals worth more than $100 million apiece – 61 versus just 24 in the previous year.
Investments in the top 10 most valuable firms alone hit over $5 billion in 2021, according to research by RegTech Analyst. However, early-stage funding is also strong, so the market has yet to consolidate.
A priority for venture capitalists last year was companies that focus on cybersecurity in Financial Services, with anti-cybercrime players occupying half of the top 10.
Phishing, fraud, identity theft, ransomware, and other problems have soared during the Covid crisis, as millions of people have been working from home.
One company, threat anomaly detection and compliance platform Lacework, raised $1.3 billion in Series D funding – the first $1 billion-plus deal in the RegTech sector.
Meanwhile, British unicorn security start-up Snyk raised $530 million in a Series F round, valuing the company at $8.5 billion.
Between 2017 and 2020, investment in RegTech saw a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 73.2 percent, as Financial Services companies worked to modernise compliance processes and deal with complex rules, such as MiFID II and GDPR.
