Canadian fintech businesses raised $ 1.62 billion in the first half of 2025 with digital assets and artificial intelligence (AI) Startups, which take the brother party of fresh financing, according to KPMG Canada’s pulse of fintech report.
While fintech financing slowed down globally, Canadian investors maintained steady support for ventures at the intersection of funding and growing technology. The report designated companies that build blockchain-based infrastructure and AI-driven economic tools as leading growth areas.
“If we look at the first half of 2025, it is clear that digital assets have come up as a magnet for investor interest despite the wider contraction in venture investment values,” said Edith Hitt, a partner at KPMG Canada.
AI investments are not surprising in view of its monumental expansion in recent years. However, Canadian investors who are aimed at financing digital assets may possibly catch something away, as the risk factor in the crypto market has always been in debate among investors.
However, with several pro-crypto rules in the United States and additional institutional push that legitimizes certain parts of the sector for digital assets, the conversation has clearly begun to change.
“Crypto’s resurgence emerging from 2024 was reinforced by a more constructive legislative tone in the United States, the dismissal of the Coinbase Case and Tangible Mainstream Recovery in StableCecoin cases,” Hitt added.
Cautious investors
While the number of $ 1.6 billion can seem big and zoom out, the number has actually fallen year by year due to macro events such as duties 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 does not mean that investors shake away from fintech financing; Rather, there is a lot of ‘dry powder’ waiting to be implemented, said Dubie Cunningham, a partner in KPMG in Canada’s banking and capital market practice. Investors are looking for more “quality companies” and appetite on “maturation in the middle of large phases private equity offers,” she added.
‘Strong’ the second half
In fact, KPMG Canada’s report explained that this tendency to invest 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 and in 2026, driven by the US administration’s bullish vision and lighter regulatory touch on cryptoassets, Hitt said.
“The focus will be on infrastructure, payment rails and tokenization platforms that can scale in compatible, integrated ways,” she added.
Hitt said things will only warm up more on the AI side, “as more fintechs increasingly adopt and implement agent AI solutions across areas such as personal finances, investment management, detection and lending of fraud.”
