The metrics that matter: What do investors look for in scaling fintech businesses?

In the early stages of building a fintech, it’s all about momentum. But as you scale, the game changes. Vision alone won’t cut it anymore. Investors want a clear line from growth to profit. Regulators demand robust systems. Your board wants to know you’re in control.

Suddenly, the questions sharpen: Are your unit economics stacking up? Can you forecast with confidence? Is your data telling the right story – not just to the market, but to the people backing you?

Here’s what you should be measuring to grow with credibility.

1. Unit economics: Lifetime Value and Customer Acquisition Cost

Why it matters: Growth is only valuable if it creates lasting value.

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) tells you how much you’re spending to secure each customer. It’s vital to break this down by acquisition channel (e.g. paid media, referrals, partnerships) and by cohort.
  • High CAC can be a ‘red flag’, especially if retention is low or organic growth is weak.
• Lifetime Value (LTV) captures the total revenue a customer generates over their relationship with you, including repeat usage, upselling, or cross-sell opportunities.

A healthy LTV:CAC ratio is typically 3:1 or higher. Anything under 2:1 might suggest you’re burning cash without building long-term value.

2. Recurring revenue and Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Why it matters: Predictable, growing revenue is the foundation for strong valuations, especially for SaaS-based or embedded fintechs.

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) offer visibility into your baseline growth. Break it down by product, geography or customer cohort to identify where real traction lies.
• Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the ‘stickiness’ metric. It shows how much your revenue grows (or shrinks) from your existing customer base after accounting for churn, downgrades, and upsells.

NRR above 100% means you’re growing even before landing new customers, a clear indicator of long-term viability.

3. User engagement: Daily and monthly active users (DAU/MAU) and retention

Why it matters: Investors want real usage, not ‘vanity’ metrics.

• DAU/MAU ratio reveals how often people are actually using your product. A healthy benchmark is 20%+, while 50%+ is excellent for consumer apps.
• Cohort retention shows how long users stay engaged after onboarding. It’s especially important for products like digital wallets, savings platforms or lending apps where repeated use is key.

Better retention means more opportunities to monetise, deepen loyalty, and stay ahead of churn.

4. Operating metrics: TPV, AUM, or loan book performance

Why it matters: Volume alone doesn’t tell the full story. Quality of revenue and margin are just as important.

• In payments, track Total Payment Volume (TPV) alongside your take rate.
• In wealthtech, Assets Under Management (AUM) reflects both client trust and monetisation potential.
• In lending, key metrics include loan book size, default rates, and net yield, critical for understanding revenue and credit risk.

A growing loan book with rising defaults won’t impress anyone. Likewise, increasing TPV with shrinking take rates may indicate margin pressure.

5. Burn rate and runway

Why it matters: After a fundraise, the focus shifts from growth to control.

• Gross burn = total monthly outgoings
• Net burn = outgoings minus revenue
• Runway = cash ÷ net burn

Investors typically look for 12–18 months of runway post-raise. Anything less suggests funding risk; too much could imply you’re not investing enough in growth.

Scenario planning (best/base/lean case) is a smart way to show board-level discipline and adaptability.

6. Trust and compliance metrics

Why it matters: High trust and low friction are competitive advantages, especially in regulated fintech environments.

Some useful indicators:

• KYC pass rate and average time to verify
• Fraud rate as a percentage of transactions
• Customer complaints per 1,000 users and resolution time

These aren’t just compliance box-tickers, they speak to customer experience, operational maturity and reputational risk. Make them part of regular investor updates, not just internal reports.

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