A guest editorial by Edvards Margevics, chief business development officer and partner at Concryt
Not long ago, a fintech IPO was the crowning moment; a declaration of scale, ambition, and market validation. These listings signalled that a startup had arrived and was ready to play in the big leagues. But in today’s economic climate, going public is less of a milestone and more of a minefield.
Global IPO activity has plunged to its lowest levels in nearly a decade, falling 9.3% year-on-year to $44.3bn. Public markets are jittery, investor sentiment is volatile, and even the most polished fintechs face valuation compression and shaky post-listing performance. Yet for infrastructure fintechs – the companies quietly powering the plumbing of modern finance – this isn’t a crisis. It’s an inflection point.
Growth redefined
The fintech ecosystem once equated growth with velocity: fast funding rounds, soaring valuations, and blitz-scaled operations. But that era has cooled. Today, growth is being defined not by urgency, but by intention.
Infrastructure fintechs, those building mission-critical APIs, settlement engines, and compliance frameworks, are taking a more measured route. Their success isn’t measured in clicks or headlines, but in quietly solving real-world challenges. Infrastructure fintechs focus on building foundational systems: programmable financial workflows, embedded transaction layers, and adaptive compliance architectures that integrate seamlessly into enterprise environments. These solutions may run behind the scenes, but they’re mission-critical, enabling institutions to move funds, verify identities, and manage risk at scale and speed.
Instead of chasing visibility, these companies prioritise precision, trustworthiness, and repeatability.
Their growth is built on system-level reliability and deep alignment with enterprise needs, making stability – not spectacle – the key currency. In a climate where robustness beats rapid reach, fintechs that embed deeply into financial systems are proving the long game is the one to play.
Late-stage funding has also shifted in tone. When capital does flow, it demands rigor. Investors want disciplined burn rates, strong customer retention, and a clear trajectory to profitability. Infrastructure fintechs – many of which were designed from the ground up with compliance, regulatory alignment, and enterprise durability in mind – are standing tall in this new reality. Their technical depth and operational resilience are no longer a bonus; they’re the price of admission.
Strategic M&A over flashy IPOs
With IPO windows frosty at best, alternative exit strategies have moved to centre stage. Mergers and acquisitions are no longer fallback options, but primary vehicles for growth; especially for infrastructure players.
Strategic M&A unlocks more than liquidity. It delivers operational scale, expands go-to-market channels, and allows technology to be embedded deep within incumbent ecosystems. For fintechs with mature compliance regimes, modular architecture, and clean cap tables, acquisition readiness is embedded in their design.
We’re seeing this play out across segments. In regtech, for instance, acquisitions of firms with advanced identity orchestration and fraud mitigation tools are surging as banks race to modernise legacy systems. Infrastructure players with ISO 27001 certification, cloud-native architecture, and pre-integrated compliance toolkits stand out in diligence processes.
Corporate development teams (especially at larger financial institutions and tech-driven banks), are actively hunting fintechs with scalable infrastructure, strong technical teams, and regulatory fluency. These aren’t speculative bets; they’re calculated moves to upgrade core capabilities without reinventing the wheel internally.
For fintech founders, this landscape presents new strategic choices. The question is no longer “How do I IPO quickly?” but “How do I become indispensable to the financial system?”
Built for endurance, not exit
In a market where flash is fading, substance is taking the lead. The standout fintechs of today aren’t building to exit, they’re building to endure.
Infrastructure companies often operate in the background, powering mission-critical services without the fanfare. But their edge lies in what others overlook: regulatory clarity, technical interoperability, and architecture designed for scale and stability.
This shift marks a sharp departure from the IPO frenzy of previous years. Back then, investor enthusiasm often outpaced business fundamentals, driving up valuations that couldn’t hold post-listing. Companies overpromised, under-delivered, and struggled to meet public market expectations.
Now, founders are embracing milestone-driven fundraising, thoughtful growth targets, and investor partnerships that bring expertise as well as money. Boards are more hands-on, operational discipline is in vogue, and financial models are designed for longevity.
This doesn’t mean ambition has disappeared, it’s just matured. Infrastructure fintechs are still scaling, still innovating, but they’re doing so with the understanding that durability is the ultimate differentiator.
They aren’t waiting for IPO conditions to thaw. They’re thriving in the freeze, precisely because they were built for it. Their mission isn’t defined by an exit date, it’s defined by impact. These companies are setting a new blueprint: one where foundational finance tech is measured not by attention, but by endurance.
Signal over noise
This market reset has forced a collective re-evaluation of what really matters. When the hype cycles fade and public markets turn unpredictable, what endures is clarity, credibility, and capability. Infrastructure fintechs, often dismissed as “boring” in earlier years, are now commanding respect for the complexity they tackle and the trust they earn.
They’re proving that fintech isn’t just about disruption, it’s about construction. These firms are laying the pipes, enforcing the rules, and ensuring the whole financial system can function with precision. Whether through scaled compliance tooling, resilient architecture, or seamless integrations, they’re quietly steering the industry forward.
Their work might not generate splashy headlines, but it is building the backbone of tomorrow’s financial infrastructure – strategically, sustainably, and on their own terms.
Image: Concryt
Guest Editorial
This article was produced specially for Fintech Intel by an expert guest contributor.
