KPMG Says Investor Interest in Digital Assets Will Drive Strong Second Half for Canadian Fintechs

Canadian fintech companies raised $1.62 billion in the first half of 2025, with digital assets and artificial intelligence (AI) startups taking the lion's share of fresh funding, according to KPMG Canada’s Pulse of Fintech report. While fintech funding slowed globally, Canadian investors maintained steady support for ventures at the intersection of finance and emerging technology. The report singled out companies building blockchain-based infrastructure and AI-driven financial tools as leading growth areas. "If we look at the first half of 2025, it's clear that digital assets have re-emerged as a magnet for investor interest, despite the broader contraction in venture investment values," said Edith Hitt, a partner at KPMG Canada. AI investments aren't surprising, given its monumental expansion in recent years. However, Canadian investors turning to digital assets funding might catch some off guard, as the risk factor of the crypto market has always been up for debate among investors. However, with more pro-crypto regulations in the U.S. and further institutional push legitimizing certain parts of the digital assets sector, the conversation has clearly started to shift. "Crypto's resurgence coming out of 2024 was reinforced by a more constructive regulatory tone in the U.S., the dismissal of the Coinbase lawsuit, and tangible mainstream adoption in stablecoin use cases," Hitt added. Cautious investors While the $1.6 billion number may seem big, zooming out, the numbers have actually dropped year-over-year due to macro events such as tariffs and higher interest rates. The report said the first half of 2025 data is lower than $2.4 billion invested in the Canadian fintech industry in the same time period last year, and $7.5 billion invested in the second half of 2024. This doesn't mean investors are shying away from fintech funding; rather, there is a lot of 'dry powder' waiting to be deployed, said Dubie Cunningham, a Partner in KPMG in Canada's Banking and Capital Markets Practice. Investors are looking for more "quality companies" and appetite for "maturing mid-to-large stage private equity deals," she added. 'Strong' second half In fact, KPMG Canada's report explained that this trend of investing in AI and digital assets is likely to continue into the latter half of 2025. "Investor interest in digital will remain strong in the second half of the year and into 2026, driven by the U.S. administration's bullish view and lighter regulatory touch on cryptoassets, said Hitt. "The focus will be on infrastructure, payments rails, and tokenization platforms that can scale in compliant, integrated ways," she added. Hitt said things will only heat up more on the AI side, "as more fintechs increasingly adopt and deploy agentic AI solutions across areas like personal finance, investment management, fraud detection and lending."