Only one French start-up among the 100 most promising fintechs in the world

After the ranking of the 50 most promising insurtechs of 2026, it's time for their cousins, fintechs. In a study published on October 28, CB Insights unveiled a selection of 100 industry gems to follow closely. To choose the lucky ones among the 70,000 candidates, the American firm relied on several criteria, including "the solidity of investors", "the dynamism in terms of recruitment", "the turnover", "the commercial maturity" and even "the sectoral partnerships".

Among the “100 most promising fintechs of 2026”, there is only one French company: Spiko, a specialist in cash investments. Founded in 2023, the start-up notably raised $90 million in early October. For French tech, the 2026 edition marks a step backwards compared to that of 2025 which had three French representatives: Descartes Underwriting, Skarlett and Cryptio. Note that the absence of certain French fintech heavyweights, such as Qonto, Swile or Pennylane, is not surprising. CB Insights specifies that it has excluded “fintechs in the advanced development phase” from its analysis.

In terms of sectors, fintechs specializing in “cross-border payments” are the most represented, with 10 companies included in the ranking. They are ahead of two other categories which each have 7 players: “business banking services” and “compliance and identity”.

CB Insights also underlines that fintechs offering solutions to individuals “are clearly in the minority” in this selection. The report also states that "the winners are those who turn regulatory constraints into products." Finally, the 100 companies selected have raised a total of $10.9 billion and employ 21,000 people, with a median workforce of 78 employees.

Machine-translated from French