China’s fintech sector has taken a big hit these past couple of years amid a broad crackdown on the tech sector that started in 2020.
After largely giving tech companies free rein to grow, China has tightened its grip on its Internet sector, vowing to curb monopolistic behavior among platform companies and strengthen the protection of consumer privacy and data security.
Regulators introduced new regulations on fintech in November 2020, forcing Jack Ma’s Ant Group to call off what would have been a record initial public offering (IPO) just days before the firm was due to go public.
But fresh news that a new plan for the “healthy” development of China’s fintech sector was recently approved by President Xi Jinping has been received as a positive sign that the crackdown may be easing.
Despite the Chinese fintech industry’s tumultuous last couple of years, the country still maintains its position as one of the world’s dynamic fintech markets that hosts some of the largest and most successful players in the world.
Using data from Tech in Asia, Dealroom, Crunchbase and CB Insights, we’ve compiled a list of the fintech companies headquartered in Mainland China that have raised the most funding, showcasing the players which investors are the most excited about.
Ant Group – US$18.5 billion
Ant Group, formerly known as Ant Financial, is an affiliate company of the Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group.
The group owns Alipay, the world’s largest mobile payment platform, which serves over 1.3 billion users and 80 million merchants; Yu’e Bao, an online spare cash management platform with over 600 million users; Huabei, a consumer credit platform; MYbank, the first online bank with no physical branches in China serving over 40 million small and micro-businesses operators; and Zhima Credit, a credit assessment service built for commercial use.
Ant Group has raised US$18.5 billion in funding, according to Dealroom, and has been working on a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
JD Technology – US$3 billion
JD Technology, formerly known as JD Finance and JD Digits, is the fintech arm of Chinese online retailer JD. The company operates a series of loan businesses and provides AI and blockchain-based financial services to financial institutions, businesses, and governments.
JD spun off its fintech services business in 2013 to form the independent unit JD Finance. JD Finance was renamed JD Digits in 2018 and then changed its name again in 2021 to JD Technology to reflect its diversified business line to include cloud, AI, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) offerings.
JD Technology has been working on an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. The company has raised at least US$3 billion in funding, comprising a US$1 billion Series A and US$2 billion Series B. It was last valued about US$19 billion.
Beijing Wusi Chuangxiang Technology – US$930 million
Beijing Wusi Chuangxiang Technology, doing business as 4Paradigm, is an emerging global leader in enterprise-grade artificial intelligence (AI), including both platform and applications.
Since its founding seven years ago, 4Paradigm has worked with clients in the finance, retail, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, Internet, healthcare, logistics, agriculture and high-tech sector, to implement best-in-class AI solutions to business problems and drive digital transformation.
4Paradigm raised its last round of funding in January 2021, closing a US$700 million Series D. The round brought its total funding raised to US$930 million, according to CB Insights. The company has a valuation of US$2 billion.
Renrenxing Technology – US$655-694 million
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Beijing, Renrenxing Technology is the operator of Jiedaibao, a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform for borrowing and lending money. The platform provides matching, registration, collection and other services for small loans. Jiedaibao users borrow or lend independently, at their own risk. Jiedaibao does not promise or guarantee the recovery of principal or interest for creditors.
Renrenxing Technology has raised about US$650 million in funding, according to Dealroom, Crunchbase and Tracxn.
Dianrong – US$549-649 million
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Shanghai, Dianrong is an online marketplace lending company. Dianrong offers small businesses and individuals a comprehensive, one-stop internet platform providing financial information and services supported by industry-leading technology, compliance and transparency.
The company’s sophisticated and flexible infrastructure enables it to design and customize lending and borrowing products and services, based on industry-specific data and insights, and supported by online risk-management and operation tools.
Dianrong has raised about US$600 million in funding, according to CB Insights, Dealroom and Crunchbase.
MediTrust Health – US$454.2-468 million
Established in 2017 and headquartered in Shanghai, MediTrust Health is a leading brand in China for innovative medical payment services, providing proprietary integrated platforms for both healthcare and insurance companies.
One of MediTrust Health’s core services is Care2Pay, a healthcare benefit platform that collaborates with more than 50 pharmaceutical and insurance companies, and over 2,000 direct-to-patient pharmacies. Care2Pay enables millions of patients with limited coverage from traditional insurance plans to purchase the latest innovative drugs at a more affordable price. In the first half of 2021 alone, it claims to have helped patients and their families save over CNY 300 million (US$44 million) in healthcare expenditures.
MediTrust Health has raised about US$450 million in funding, according to Dealroom, including a US$308 million Series closed last year.
Bitmain Technologies – US$450 million
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Beijing, Bitmain Technologies is the world’s leading manufacturer of digital currency mining servers through its brand Antminer, serving customers across over 100 countries and regions.
The company develops and sells cryptocurrency miners using ASIC chip technology, enabling users to get high quality and efficient computing chips, high density server equipment and large scale parallel computing software.
Bitmain Technologies has subsidiaries in the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and other locations. The company has raised about US$450 million in funding, comprising a US$50 million Series A and US$400 million Series B, and is valued US$12 billion, according to CB Insights.
Featured image credit: edited from Pexels
