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Deal activity in the financial services technology (fintech) space continues to remain strong, with start-ups announcing a fund-raise every second week. Since 2012, investors have pumped about $2.35 billion (Rs 15,000 crore) into fintech firms in 325 deals, says data platform VCCEdge. The bulk went into payments ($875 million, 109 deals), consumer finance/lending ($875 mn, 109 deals), and other small niches. The $2.35 bn includes the financial software space - Mphasis was acquired by Blackstone for $824.6 mn in April 2016. Even if one excludes deals in financial software, the fintech tally adds to $1.53 bn (Rs 9,800 crore) and this doesn't include SoftBank's $1.4 bn investment in Paytm.Why so? Why are investors bullish on fintech? That's because this is the next biggest space after e-commerce in India, says Anand Prasanna, managing partner at Iron Pillar, a venture growth investment entity. Amrish Rau, chief executive officer (CEO) at Naspers-owned PayU India, thinks investors feel ..