New Delhi, Mar 16 (IANS): With a strong interest in companies specialising in blockchain and artificial intelligence, India-based investors were a distant second in providing funding to fintech in Asia-Pacific after the US in 2021, a report said on Wednesday.

According to the S&P Global Market Intelligence research, US investors, led by venture capitalists, funded 358 fintech companies in the Asia-Pacific region in 2021, up from 134 in 2020.

India also attracted the most funding in the region, with $5.94 billion raised across 236 deals in 2021, up from $1.5 billion across 118 deals in 2020.

"Venture capital funding reached new highs in 2021, with Asia-Pacific fintech receiving $15.69 billion. Such funding was up sharply from $5.87 billion in 2020 and was 74 per cent higher than 2019's pre-pandemic levels," the research firm said.

Global investors were most active in backing fintech companies specialising in investment and capital markets technology such as blockchain, internet of things and artificial intelligence, funding 254 deals in 2021 compared with 99 the year prior.

The report said that payments were the second-most popular category for the US investors, as 167 companies received funding in 2021.