A total of 57 funding deals took place in the Americas in May 2018. The 52 disclosed funding rounds hit ~$2.034 billion, out of which US startups are responsible for ~$1.995 billion raised across 51 deals – that is over 98% of the funds raised by FinTech startups globally.
Canada was represented by three startups that raised funds (Katipult, Mindbridge, and NorthOne), while Argentina (Moni, $3 million), Brazil (Banco Neon, $22 million), and Chile (Ceptinel, $1 million) each had one startup scoring funding in May 2018.
Source: MEDICI Research[1]
With an 18% representation (the highest), blockchain startups are on the third place by the value of funds raised – close to $240 million. Payments startups, on the other hand, while among the least represented ones, raised the most funds by value – $777 million.
Source: MEDICI Research[2]
An enormous disparity in funding between the Payments segment and all other categories is reached by a contribution from a single company – in the last week of May, Square announced the pricing of $750 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2023[3] (Notes) in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers.
Square also granted the initial purchaser of the Notes a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $112.5 million aggregate principal amount of the Notes solely to cover over-allotments, if any. The sale of the Notes to the initial purchaser was expected to settle on May 25, 2018, subject to customary closing conditions; it is expected to result in approximately $736.5 million in net proceeds to Square after deducting the initial purchaser’s discount and estimated offering expenses
