7 Emerging Fintech Startups in Europe to Watch in 2026
Europe minted a new fintech unicorn roughly every 6 weeks in late 2025 and early 2026. These 7 verified startups are the ones smart VCs are loading up on now.
Key Takeaways
- Europe's fintech reset is producing winners:
Average European fintech deal size rose from $14.9M in 2021 to $21.9M in 2025, signalling investors are concentrating capital in fewer, more robust bets.
- SMB banking is on fire: Allica Bank and Finom both serve the same overlooked market — established small businesses — and both raised nine-figure rounds in the last 12 months.
- Flatpay's 400% ARR growth in one year is one of the fastest revenue ramps in European fintech history, even without being profitable yet.
- The next wave is infrastructure: 9fin (debt markets), Descartes Underwriting (climate risk), and Midas (emerging-market investing) are all building picks-and-shovels for financial professionals, not just consumer apps.
- Seed-stage wildcard: Estonia's Cino is backed by Balderton Capital and showing 100% month-on-month growth — the kind of early signal that precedes a very large Series A.
As of May 2026, based on public reporting from TechCrunch, EU-Startups, Sifted, Crunchbase, and company press releases. Past funding is not a guarantee of future outcomes.
Europe's fintech sector wasn't supposed to look this good in 2026.
European FinTech investments dropped 11% year-over-year in 2025, with total capital deployed reaching $16.3 billion from 743 deals, down from $18.3 billion across 1,047 deals in 2024.
The headline looks ugly. But zoom in and a different story emerges:
the average deal size has risen from $14.9M in 2021 to $21.9M in 2025
— investors aren't retreating, they're getting pickier. And the startups clearing that higher bar are genuinely exceptional.
74 private companies worldwide reached unicorn status in 2026 as of late April, with 14 based in Europe.
Two of those 14 are fintechs. The seven companies below represent the best of what's crossing the threshold now or accelerating toward it.
FinomThe SMB financial OS for Europe
Finom is a five-year-old, Amsterdam-based challenger bank that targets small and medium-sized businesses across Europe. The company claims to have doubled its revenue in 2024 and closed a €115 million Series C equity round.
The founders — Andrey Petrov, Oleg Laguta, Konstantin Stiskin, and Yakov Novikov — drew from their collective experience in building Modulbank, a neobank, to address the financial management challenges faced by SMEs.
These aren't first-timers. They've built a neobank before, they exited, and they came back hungrier with a broader brief.
Latest funding:
Finom announced a $131.97 million Series C funding round. The round was led by AVP (formerly AXA Venture Partners), with participation from Headline Growth, General Catalyst, Northzone, and Cogito Capital. This milestone follows a $105 million investment from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund, bringing Finom's total capital raised to over $344 million.
Why watch:
Finom counts over 100,000 businesses across Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy as customers, reporting positive unit economics in all markets.
General Catalyst ran the rule over the unit economics before writing two checks in the same quarter — that's as strong a signal as any third-party endorsement. Finom's stated goal is one million SMB customers by 2026. It's at 125,000 today. The gap is the opportunity.
FlatpayFlat-rate payments that actually make sense for SMBs
Denmark has produced some of Europe's most aggressive fintech growth stories. Flatpay is currently the most aggressive of all.
Founded in 2022, Flatpay builds flat-rate payment and POS infrastructure for small and midsize merchants, offering a standardized model in a segment long defined by opaque fee structures. The company is now active in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, and France. Revenue climbed from $35M to $140M ARR in the past 12 months, a 400% year-over-year increase that outpaces most European fintech growth benchmarks.
Flatpay's founders — Sander Janca-Jensen, Rasmus Hellmund Carlsen, Peter Lüth, and Rasmus Busk — launched the company with a clear mission: to create fair, transparent, and human digital payments for small businesses.
Latest funding:
Flatpay achieved unicorn status following a $170 million funding round that values the company at $1.7 billion. The Series C round was led by new investor AVP, alongside participation from Smash Capital and existing backers Hedosophia, Dawn Capital, and Seed Capital.
Why watch:
The plan for 2026 is to grow another 300%, so hopefully leave the year with between €400 and €500 million of ARR.
A non-AI startup growing 400% in an AI-obsessed market cycle, in a segment that incumbents like Stripe and SumUp have largely ignored? That's the contrarian bet that prints. This is Denmark's fastest-ever unicorn for a reason.
Allica BankThe digital bank built for established SMBs
Every VC was obsessed with challenger banks for consumers. Allica Bank quietly decided the real money was in established businesses that legacy banks had completely abandoned.
Founded in 2019, Allica Bank focuses on serving established businesses with 5-250 employees, offering business banking and savings accounts alongside lending solutions such as commercial mortgages, asset finance, and bridging finance.
Latest funding:
Allica Bank hit unicorn status following the completion of a $155 million Series D funding round. The round values the company at $1.2 billion and was supported by Ventura Capital, GLG, and Sona AM
, alongside existing investors TCV and Blue Owl.
Why watch:
Over the past five years, Allica's balance sheet has scaled to nearly £4 billion of SMB loans and over £5 billion in deposits. Allica now serves over 30,000 established SMB businesses across the UK.
That's 5% of its target market.
The company aims to double its market penetration to 10% by 2028.
Going from 5% to 10% in a market of that size means roughly doubling revenue. And it's now expanding internationally for the first time. The UK was the proof of concept. Europe is the prize.
9finAI-native intelligence for global debt markets
Most fintech disruption happens in retail banking or consumer payments. 9fin went after a far harder and far larger target: the global debt markets, where the information asymmetry is enormous and the willingness-to-pay from professionals is near-unlimited.
Founded in 2016, 9fin is an AI-native platform for global debt markets.
The company has reportedly delivered multiple consecutive years of 100% ARR growth, industry-leading retention, and even faster expansion in the United States.
Latest funding:
London's 9fin raised €148 million ($170 million) in Series C funding at a €1.1 billion valuation to develop AI capabilities, expand its proprietary dataset, and support continued growth in the United States. The round was led by HarbourVest, with participation from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and earlier investors Redalpine, Highland Europe, Spark Capital, and Seedcamp.
Why watch:
CPP Investments was already a 9fin client before joining this round as an investor.
A sovereign pension fund so convinced by the product that it crossed the table from customer to investor? That's the kind of validation money can't fake. Private credit is one of the fastest-growing asset classes globally, and 9fin owns the data layer underneath it.
This is exactly the kind of B2B infrastructure play that tends to be undervalued by early-stage investors and overvalued by growth investors once the revenue compounds.
Descartes UnderwritingParametric climate insurance, built for a warming world
Here's a contrarian take: the most interesting fintech opportunity in Europe right now isn't AI. It's climate risk.
Descartes Underwriting is a developer of a parametric insurance platform designed to protect organizations and public institutions against natural catastrophes, weather events, and emerging risks through data-driven risk transfer. The company offers parametric insurance products, broker collaboration, and carrier-backed underwriting, enabling corporate clients, brokers, and governments to access technology-based insurance coverage for catastrophic and emerging risks.
The founders are Sébastien Piguet, Kevin Dedieu, and Tanguy Touffut. Tanguy Touffut is the CEO of Descartes Underwriting.
Latest funding:
Descartes Underwriting announced a strategic investment by Battery Ventures. The transaction was executed at a premium to Descartes' most recent valuation (Series B), enabling Battery to join the company's shareholder base while all existing investors retain a large majority of their holdings.
This strategic investment follows a €108 million Series B funding round completed in early 2022.
Why watch:
In 2024, the company reported over $200 million in gross written premium.
Founded in 2018 and based in Paris, Descartes Underwriting provides parametric insurance for global weather and natural catastrophe perils as an MGA. The company now operates in over 60 countries through 19 offices across four continents.
A pre-unicorn company writing $200M+ in premium, backed by Battery Ventures, operating in 60 countries? The unicorn valuation is coming. The question is when the strategic investment converts into a formal round.
MidasTurkey's Robinhood, heading to the MENA
Europe's periphery is producing some of the most exciting fintech stories.
Midas raised an $80 million Series B to give Turkish citizens access to US equity markets. In a high-inflation environment, providing access to stable assets is not just a feature; it's a lifeline.
Midas is based in Turkey, founded in 2020 by Egem Eraslan and Umut Bozkurt.
Midas serves 3.5 million investors by providing access to Borsa Istanbul, U.S. stock markets, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies through a single platform.
Latest funding:
Midas raised $80 million in its Series B funding round, the largest investment ever secured by a Turkish fintech company. This brings Midas' total funding to date to more than $140 million.
The round was led by QED Investors. New investors include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), HSG (formerly Sequoia China), and QuantumLight (founded by Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky).
Why watch:
Turkey's first commission-free trading platform Midas is now valued at nearly $1 billion following its latest funding round.
The number of Turkish retail brokerage accounts has increased from 1.5 million in 2021 to approximately 10 million, representing less than 12% of adults compared to over 50% in the US. With 3.5 million customers, Midas has potential for 4-5x domestic user growth.
Add MENA expansion plans and a self-clearing architecture that lets Midas white-label its infrastructure regionally, and you have a platform company, not just a brokerage app.
CinoReal-time bill splitting, finally done right
Every few years a consumer fintech product appears so obvious in hindsight that everyone wonders why it didn't exist before. Cino is that product for 2025.
The real-time shared payment app allows a group to split the bill and pay their share directly from whatever bank account or wallet they choose. After emerging from Tallinn, Estonia, and operating in continental Europe since 2023, Cino will now use the funding to expand to the UK. Led by co-founder and CEO Elena Churilova (formerly of Bumble and Booking.com) and COO Lina Saleh (ex-Cornell University), Cino appears to be making waves among Gen Z, who dislike "financial awkwardness."
Latest funding:
Tallinn-based fintech startup Cino, which provides shared payments with a single virtual card, secured €3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Balderton Capital. The fresh capital will be used to expand into the UK and enhance its product.
Angel investors such as Barney Hussey-Yeo, founder of Cleo, also joined the round.
Why watch:
The company has seen 100% month-on-month growth in Finland and Italy, with the average user group using Cino 17 times monthly and spending up to €3,000 per group.
Balderton Capital has backed Revolut, Darktrace, and Depop. When Balderton leads a seed round, it's rarely a one-and-done. This is a network-effects product with a Gen Z tailwind, seed-stage pricing, and elite backing. The Series A is going to be very interesting.
What These Seven Have in Common
Look across this list and a pattern emerges. These aren't companies chasing the median opportunity. They're each picking a segment that incumbent banks and payment giants have systematically underserved:
| Company | Underserved Segment | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Finom | SMB financial management | Series C |
| Flatpay | SMB card payments (flat rate) | Unicorn (Series C) |
| Allica Bank | Established SMB banking | Unicorn (Series D) |
| 9fin | Debt market intelligence | Unicorn (Series C) |
| Descartes Underwriting | Corporate climate risk | Post-Series B |
| Midas | Emerging-market retail investing | Near-unicorn (Series B) |
| Cino | Real-time shared payments | Seed |
The SMB theme is impossible to miss. Three of seven companies serve small businesses that legacy banks treat as too complicated to be worth the effort.
The era of "unbundling the bank" — where every specific function had its own standalone app — is officially dead.
What's replacing it is vertical integration: companies that own the full financial relationship with a specific customer segment. That's exactly what Finom, Flatpay, and Allica are building.
The infrastructure theme is equally strong. 9fin and Descartes are both selling to professional buyers with high willingness-to-pay and low churn. Both have proprietary data moats. Both are exactly the kind of company that accelerates from Series B to IPO faster than the market expects.
How to Screen Startups Like These Before Everyone Else Does
Spotting these patterns early is a skill. The companies above were verifiable, data-backed opportunities — but identifying them before the Series C requires a systematic framework, not just a hot take on Twitter.
Unicorn Screener is built for exactly this kind of evaluation. It's a data-driven scoring tool that lets you assess any startup across the dimensions that actually predict breakout outcomes: founder quality, market size, traction velocity, and competitive positioning. Run the next company you're evaluating through it before the round closes, and benchmark its score against the highest-scoring startups on our public leaderboard.
The startup red flags framework is also worth reading alongside this list — some of these companies have obvious risks (Flatpay is still unprofitable by design, Cino is pre-revenue scale) that are fine at their stage but would be fatal red flags at a later one.
What This Means for You
- Watch the SMB banking space harder.
Fintech is a leading sector for unicorn creation in Europe, with 65 of Europe's 198 tech unicorns in Q1 2025 being fintech companies, representing 32.8% of the total.
The next cluster of these will come from B2B and SMB financial infrastructure, not consumer apps.
- Track the "sovereign fintechs."
While Western European markets are saturated, massive "blue ocean" opportunities remain in regions where fintech is essential infrastructure rather than just a convenience.
Midas is the proof. There are more like it in Poland, Romania, and Southeast Europe.
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Seed-stage network-effects plays deserve more attention. Cino at €3.5M is the kind of company that looks cheap at Series A and expensive at Series B. The pattern is well-established. Founder pedigree matters enormously — Elena Churilova's background at Bumble and Booking.com is not a coincidence.
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