The five biggest fintech trends of 2021

2. Fintech exits are getting big too

At the same time, 2021 saw some blockbuster exits. The biggest was Grab’s $40 billion merger into Nasdaq-listed Alitmeter Capital, a blank-check company. The share price has been hammered, but the company and its founders achieved their goals and are well positioned for continued growth.

Besides Grab, other notable IPOs and M&A this year in Asia included:

• Paidy (Japan) bought by PayPal for $2.7 billion
• Afterpay (Australia) acquired by Stripe (now Block) for $29 billion in stock
• KakaoBank (Korea), IPO raised $2.2 billion, at $29 billion valuation
• Paytm (India), IPOed via corporate parent One97 raising $2.5 billion (it’s now trading below its last private valuation of $16 billion)
• BillDesk (India), acquired by PayU for $4.7 billion in cash
• PolicyBazaar (India), IPOed via corporate parent PB Fintech, raising $870 million
• Linklogis (China), IPOed in Hong Kong, raising $1 billion (its share price has collapsed)