Post-Investment Empowerment Through Digitalization: Pathways to Efficiency Improvement in Fintech Industry Equity Investment

The global private equity industry has witnessed a continuous rise in post-investment digital penetration. However, the fintech industry is characterized by a paradox of “high penetration but low efficiency,” with the core issue being the mismatch between digital tools and empowerment scenarios. To address this challenge, this study constructs a three-tier indicator system for “Post-Investment Empowerment Digital Maturity (DPM),” which includes data integration, intelligent analysis, and decision application layers, with respective weights of 30%, 40%, and 30%. Using a sample of 156 global private equity institutions that primarily invest in fintech from 2020 to 2023, this study employs a mixed-method approach combining Tobit model analysis, in-depth interviews, and case studies to empirically examine the impact mechanism and pathways of DPM on post-investment empowerment efficiency (EPE), defined as the ratio of the post-investment enterprise valuation growth rate to the empowerment cost. The findings reveal a non-linear positive correlation between DPM and EPE, with a threshold of “DPM≥3.5” marking a turning point in efficiency. Beyond this threshold, the growth rate of EPE surges from 3.2% to 15.6%. The intelligent analysis layer is identified as the core driver of efficiency improvement, with a marginal effect of 6.8%, significantly higher than the 3.5% of the data integration layer and 3.4% of the decision application layer. The impact of DPM on EPE also exhibits scenario heterogeneity. Large-scale institutions with assets under management (AUM) of no less than 5 billion US dollars achieve an efficiency improvement 2.5 percentage points higher than smaller institutions due to economies of scale. Moreover, the digitalization effect in the fintech industry is significantly superior to that in traditional industries. This study not only provides differentiated digital construction pathways for private equity institutions but also offers theoretical support and practical references for regulatory authorities to establish industry standards and promote the standardized development of post-investment digitalization in fintech.