Marketplaces, fintech and IoT were the big investment themes of 2014. Following a number of years where investment was focussed on building the horizontal platforms (mobile, social, data and cloud), we are seeing a shift towards investment in vertical specific plays. This theme has a long way to run yet.
In 2014, nearly $15.5 billion was invested in e-commerce with online marketplaces making up the majority of that investment, accounting for nearly three quarters of the total investment and just under half the deals. Annual investment in marketplaces has increased steadily over the past four years for two broad reasons.
http://raconteur.net/business/top-5-digital-market-technology-investments
