Retail fintech VC deal value rose 53.2% QoQ to $2.4 billion in Q3, though deal activity was down 53.5% YoY. Alongside deteriorating valuations and a slowdown in VC fundraising, the cautious deployment of capital has largely contributed to the slowdown in retail fintech VC. In addition, fintech capital allocation remains weighted toward startups with B2B models, given the greater total addressable markets, larger profit pools, and better unit economics generally available within the vertical. In Q3, 35.9% of total fintech venture capital went to B2C fintech companies—as opposed to B2B fintech companies—compared with 46.2% in the prior year period. Still, Q3 saw a notable QoQ increase in the mix of capital invested in B2C fintech versus B2B fintech. In Q2, 28.6% of venture capital went to B2C fintech companies (compared with 35.9% in Q3), suggesting there is still investor interest in retail fintech companies.Top deals in Q3 were primarily comprised of late-stage deals. These include vehicle financing platform Lendbuzz’s $345.0 million late-stage round ($45.0 million in equity and $300.0 million in debt); smartphone financer PayJoy’s $360.0 million Series C ($150.0 million in equity and $210.0 million in debt); credit card startup Petal’s $275.0 million late-stage deal ($55.0 million in equity and $220.0 million in debt); and microlending parent company Gojo & Company’s $101.4 million Series E. Late-stage and venture-growth deals continue to make up the bulk of retail fintech VC deal value YTD, with $2.0 billion and $2.7 billion of funding, respectively. A total of 167 and 173 deals have been recorded YTD for pre-seed/seed and early-stage retail fintech startups, respectively, compared with 126 deals seen for startups that secured late-stage funding and 52 deals recorded for startups that received venture-growth funding.