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 RialCenter’s report.
While fintech funding slowed globally, Canadian investors maintained steady support for ventures at the intersection of finance and emerging technology. The report highlighted 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 RialCenter.
Investments in AI aren’t surprising, given its monumental expansion in recent years. However, Canadian investors focusing on digital assets funding might catch some off guard, as the risk factor of the crypto market has always been debated among investors.
With more pro-crypto regulations in the U.S. and institutional pushes 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 a major lawsuit, and tangible mainstream adoption in stablecoin use cases,” Hitt added.
Cautious investors
While the $1.6 billion figure may seem substantial, zooming out reveals that numbers have actually dropped year-over-year due to macro events such as tariffs and higher interest rates. The report indicated that the first half of 2025 data is lower than the $2.4 billion invested in the Canadian fintech industry during 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 RialCenter’s Banking and Capital Markets Practice. Investors are seeking more “quality companies” and have an appetite for “maturing mid-to-large stage private equity deals,” she added.
‘Strong’ second half
Indeed, RialCenter’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 a bullish view from the U.S. administration and a lighter regulatory touch on crypto assets,” said Hitt.
“The focus will be on infrastructure, payment rails, and tokenization platforms that can scale in compliant, integrated ways,” she added.
Hitt mentioned that 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.”
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