金融科技新周期：纪律、整合平台与规模

Discipline, Integrated Platforms, FinTech Report | January 2026 Report HIGHLIGHTS:2025 Delivered. Momentum Continues into 2026. FinTech has emerged from the reset stronger, leaner, and structurally improved. of experienced operators now feeds back into earlier stages, reducing execution risk After a multi-year contraction driven by rising interest rates, closed capital markets,and a repricing of risk, 2025 marked a clear inflection point. The recovery underway isnot a return to the excesses of the prior cycle, but the beginning of a more disciplined, 05.Funding Has Been Selective – and That’s a Feature, Not a Bug FinTech funding in Israel and globally remains below peak levels, but the compositionof capital has improved. Capital is flowing toward software-led, asset-light, data-richmodels with clearer paths to scale. This sets up a healthier recovery into 2026 rather Key Takeaways 01.The FinTech Downturn Was Cyclical, Not Structural 06.The Next Phase of FinTech Is About Depth, Not Breadth The 2022–2024 contraction was primarily macro-driven. As interest rates stabilizedand capital markets normalized, FinTech activity resumed in predictable ways:selective private funding, a rebound in strategic M&A, and FinTech-led reopening of The most compelling opportunities are emerging in: •Agentic AIembedded directly into financial workflows•Value-add insurtechthat redefines insurance around outcomes, not policies•Embedded ecosystemsthat orchestrate full financial lifecycles instead of specificfeatures 02.Capital Has Reset – and the Quality Bar Is Higher Public and private markets now reward profitable, efficient growth over scale at anycost. Business models with embedded distribution, automation-driven margins, andproprietary data command clear valuation premiums. This repricing has raised the bar, These models benefit from embedded distribution, proprietary data moats, andcompounding economics that horizontal FinTech struggled to achieve. 03.AI Is Shifting FinTech From Software to Systems of Action AI adoption is accelerating across financial services, moving from copilots andinterfaces to agentic systems that execute workflows, make decisions, and resolveexceptions across core financial infrastructure. The next generation of FinTech leaders Viola’s Perspective At Viola, our conviction in FinTech is shaped by investing across cycles. The lastdownturn forced a structural upgrade in how FinTech companies are built: sharper uniteconomics, deeper integration into workflows, and AI-native infrastructure from day one. 04.Israeli FinTech Is Exiting the Downturn With Structural Advantages Israeli FinTech mirrored global trends but rebounded with outsized outcomes. Whilecyber remains the largest sector by headline valuations and liquidity, FinTech hasemerged as Israel’s second most significant vertical, particularly evident in the depth As we move into 2026, FinTech is entering its next chapter with clearer rules, strongerfounders, and more durable business models. We believe this environment will producefewer companies, but better ones, and that Israeli FinTech is uniquely positioned to be Introduction:FinTech After the Reset table of contents Part 1: The Global FinTech Reset The 2025 Comeback: Funding, M&A, and Public MarketsStructural Shifts Shaping the Next FinTech CycleDiscipline, Profitability, and Execution The past five years have tested the FinTech sector more thanany period since its emergence as a standalone category. From the unprecedented acceleration of 2020–2021,through the sharp contraction of 2022–2024, and into the Part 2: Israeli FinTech Dynamics Exit activity and Late-stage OutcomesThe Founder Flywheel and Execution AdvantageWhy We’re Bullish on Israeli FinTech in 2026 This report reflects Viola’s perspective on where the sectorstands today - globally and in Israel, and more importantly, Our core conviction is simple:FinTech did not merelysurvive the downturn, it was reshaped by it. The result isa more disciplined, more efficient, and ultimately more Part 3: Viola’s Investment Theses Viola’s First Principles for Building a Successful FinTechViola’s Five Investment Theses - Where to Build Next The Global FinTech ResetPart 1 The global FinTech market entered the downturnwith excess: excess capital, excess expectations,and excess tolerance for inefficiency. It is emerging This section examines how 2025 marked thetransition from contraction to recovery, and whythis recovery looks fundamentally different from 2025 Marked the FinTech Comeback:Validating Our Long-Term Conviction By 2025, it became increasingly clear that FinTech’s downturn was cyclical rather than secular. Activity did not reboundindiscriminately, but it resumed in ways that signaled renewed Private financings returned selectively, often at more rationalvaluations and with clearer expectations around profitability.M&A activity accelerated as incumbents and scaled FinTechsmoved from balance-sheet preservat