U.S. fintech funding climbed to near $15 billion last year led by insurers, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Insurtech accounted for $3.8 billion of the $14.8 billion total.
Digital lending and payments were tied for third place with $3.2 billion each.
The insurance fintech niche was buoyed by $635 million into Bright Health Management which led all fintech investors in a single funding round.
The premiums Bright Health took in more than doubled in the third quarter of 2019 to $64.1 million from the $30.9 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
The increased paled though, compared to the near four-time surge of Root Insurance to $119 million from $32.8 million.
“Large injections of investor funding are particularly important for the capital-intensive full-stack insurtech model, given regulatory capital requirements and the need to pay out claims immediately while earning premiums over time,” the S&P report noted.
Social Finance (SoFi), the student loan refinancer, was number two overall in 2019 for raising fintech funds in an individual round at $539 million. Number two in the digital lending space was Fundbox with $326 million.
SoFi’s $539 million came from the Qatar Investment Authority.
S&P pointed out SoFi has aggressively tried to grow beyond student lending for years to positioned itself as a holistic financial services provider competing directly with traditional banks for customers
Right behind Bright Health and SoFi in third place in obtaining fintech investments on a single round was mobile banker Chime Financial with $500 million.
But Chime led all fintechs with the total amount of investments taken in for 2019 at $700 million with a round of $200 million in addition to the $500 million.
