Singapore’s fintech sector drew US$499 million in investment across 53 deals in the first half of 2026, according to KPMG‘s Pulse of Fintech H1 2026 report, marking the country’s most subdued first half in close to a decade.
The figure represents a sharp drop from roughly US$1.45 billion across 97 deals in H1 2025. Activity was also uneven within the half: after a quiet first quarter of US$88 million across 26 deals, investment rebounded to US$411 million across 27 deals in the second quarter — a recovery that rested almost entirely on a single US$320 million cross-border payments round in June.
AI and digital assets anchor deal activity
Despite the overall decline, select verticals held up:
- AI and machine learning was the most active vertical, capturing US$365.9 million across 18 deals, split evenly between early and late-stage rounds
- Cross-border payments remained an anchor vertical, though largely propped up by the single US$320 million June deal
- Crypto and digital assets accounted for the largest share of Singapore’s deal count, with 15 of 27 deals concentrated in seed and early-stage rounds
Later-stage AI rounds focused on applied software embedding AI into financial workflows, while early-stage deals shifted toward agentic software and infrastructure.
“The headline number tells only part of the story. What we are seeing in Singapore mirrors the global market — investors are being far more selective, consolidating capital behind a small number of scaled, high-conviction platforms… the fundamentals that make Singapore a strategic hub for fintech — a trusted regulatory environment, deep cross-border connectivity, and strength in payments and digital assets — remain intact,” said Anton Ruddenklau, Partner and Head of Financial Services at KPMG in Singapore.
A contrasting global picture
Globally, fintech investment has climbed steadily over the past three half-year periods, from US$50.5 billion in H1 2025 to US$72.2 billion in H2 2025 and US$103.1 billion in H1 2026, even as global deal volume fell from 2,500 to 2,100 over the same period. Global fintech M&A activity also strengthened, rising from US$37.2 billion across 514 deals in H2 2025 to US$67.9 billion across 394 deals in H1 2026, while AI-focused fintechs attracted US$21.4 billion across venture capital, private equity and M&A worldwide.
