Crunchbase Has Q3 Fintech Funding Down 21%, FinTech Global Up 35%
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Crunchbase Has Q3 Fintech Funding Down 21%, FinTech Global Up 35%
Both trackers record fewer deals, and the gap between $10.6 billion and $27.5 billion comes down to what each counts.
Two trackers published third-quarter 2026 fintech funding numbers within 11 days of each other and disagree on the direction. Crunchbase News counted $10.6 billion, down 21.4 percent from the third quarter of 2025. FinTech Global counted $27.5 billion, up 35 percent. The two agree only on the deal count, which fell in both.
What Crunchbase counted
Crunchbase News reporter Mary Ann Azevedo published the Q3 figures on Oct. 20, using data as of Oct. 5. Global fintech funding was $10.6 billion, down 28.4 percent from $14.9 billion in the second quarter and down 21.4 percent from $13.5 billion a year earlier.
The deal count is the starker number. Crunchbase logged 687 rounds, against 789 in the second quarter and 995 in the third quarter of 2025. That is a 31 percent drop in a year and the lowest count since the first quarter of 2018.
- Q3 2025995 rounds
- Q2 2026789 rounds
- Q3 2026687 rounds
Source: Crunchbase News, Oct. 20, 2026, accessed 2026-10-20
Where the dollars went
Rounds of $100 million or more totalled $5.15 billion, down 43.3 percent from $9.07 billion in the second quarter, and Crunchbase says they account for about 93 percent of the quarter's dollar decline. Rounds under $100 million fell 5.1 percent on the quarter and 31.4 percent on the year.
Early-stage funding was $4.23 billion, up 11 percent on the quarter and 0.6 percent lower than a year earlier. One round, Ant International's $1.2 billion Series A at an $11.2 billion post-money valuation, is 28.4 percent of that figure. Strip it out and early-stage money was about $3.03 billion, by simple subtraction. Angel and seed funding was $1.12 billion, down 35.2 percent on the year.
The United States took $5.38 billion, or 50.5 percent. India took $452 million, 4.2 percent of the total. The site's earlier look at an Indian round, Even Healthcare's $50 million Series B, found the company's headline and its filing disagreed.
What FinTech Global counted
FinTech Global's Q3 summary gives $27.5 billion across 897 deals, up 35 percent from $20.3 billion in the third quarter of 2025, with deal count down about 6 percent from 959. It attributes the growth to "larger individual transactions" rather than more deals. The largest named deal was FNZ's $450 million of new equity, led by existing shareholders including La Caisse, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Generation Investment Management and Motive Partners.
The page contradicts itself on average deal size: $30.6 million in the text, $30.3 million in a tag. Third-party site aifundingtracker.com, which republished the tracker's figures on Oct. 12, gives $30.7 million and a second-quarter peak of $30.9 billion. It says the tracker counts a wider set of deals, including insurtech and cybersecurity companies, and that its totals should not be compared with Crunchbase's. FinTech Global's own page does not define its method.
| Measure | Crunchbase News | FinTech Global |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 funding | $10.6 billion | $27.5 billion |
| Change from Q3 2025 | -21.4% | +35% |
| Q3 2026 deals | 687 | 897 |
| Change in deals, year on year | -31% | -6% |
Reading the two together
Divide each total by its deal count and the gap is plain. Crunchbase's average round is about $15.4 million, by division. FinTech Global's is $30.6 million. A tracker that includes more large insurtech and security rounds will show a higher average and can show rising dollars while counting fewer companies funded. Both agree on the one thing that is not a matter of definition: fewer deals.
QED Investors' Laura Bock told Crunchbase that "efficiency still matters, but growth is back in focus". Forerunner's Kirsten Green said that on Series A and B rounds "evidence counts for more than narrative". Neither is a statement about volume, which is why the deal count is the better test.
The number to watch is the fourth-quarter count against 687. If Crunchbase and FinTech Global both record another fall in deals, the decline is real in either definition. If only the dollar totals diverge again, the scope of the tracker is doing the work.
Related reading: Inspired Capital's $450 million fourth fund closed 36 percent above its predecessor.
Sources
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