Source Code Capital Alumni | KPMG Global Fintech 100: Qudian Ranks Second

The annual Fintech ranking jointly released by H2 Ventures & KPMG is always a major event for taking stock of global fintech companies. The 2016 Global Fintech 100 list was unveiled recently, with China claiming 5 of the top 10 spots — Qudian ranked second, just behind Ant Group.

In today's rapidly evolving Chinese internet landscape, China's fintech sector has achieved unprecedented progress. In the past, internet finance mainly provided new channels, connecting traditional financial resources to online platforms without fundamentally transforming the industry. Fintech, by contrast, is a form of financial innovation that uses technology to revolutionize finance, improving the efficiency of financial services through creative solutions. An increasing number of industry insiders have reached consensus: in fintech, China is becoming one of the world's primary battlegrounds.

The "Global Fintech 100" list focuses on outstanding companies and institutions worldwide that have used technological innovation to transform traditional finance in a given year, and is regarded as one of the industry's authoritative international rankings. The vast majority of companies in the top 50 are described as "disruptors" — they seek to challenge traditional financial services firms and conventional business models.

Notably, four of the top five fintech innovators on this year's list are from China, double the two from last year, reflecting China's "unquestionable" pace of development and growth vitality in fintech.

Meanwhile, as global fintech competition continues to intensify, the top 50 companies this year are distributed across 17 countries, up from 13 last year. Twenty-eight are from EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and 24 from the Asia-Pacific region, with the main additions being fintech companies from China, the Philippines, and other countries.

2016 Global Fintech 100 (click to enlarge)

Companies competing for the Fintech 100 list are all top-tier global providers of financial services technology. Their funding scale, fundraising rates, geographic distribution, sector diversity, product and service innovation, and business model innovation all serve as evaluation criteria — making the list extremely difficult to crack.

Standing out from such fierce competition is particularly rare for a startup like Qudian, which has only been around for two and a half years. In the 2015 Fintech 100 list, Qudian ranked fourth; this year it has broken into the top three.

Qudian, formerly known as Qufenqi, was founded in 2014. In July this year, the Qufenqi brand was officially upgraded to Qudian Group — a financial services platform offering installment consumption to young people.

Source Code Capital was deeply involved from Qufenqi's inception, leading multiple rounds of financing for the company.

Yi Cao, founding partner of Source Code Capital, once had this to say about Qudian founder Min Luo: "He's different from those elite-school, sea-turtle, executive entrepreneur types. Once he smells opportunity, he pounces on it like crazy."

In Yi Cao's eyes today, the increasingly mature Min Luo is making progress toward becoming a "strategic thinker" in terms of business vision and talent strategy.

Qudian, which built its business on campus installment services, began its transformation in early 2015. After a year and a half of trial-and-error refinement and business expansion, its non-campus users now exceed ten million. As this user base continues to grow, so does its revenue.