Plaid valuation tops $13bn after scrapped Visa merger
Fintech firm Plaid has more than doubled its valuation to over $13bn (£9bn), just months after its takeover deal with Visa collapsed.
The San Francisco-based firm today said it had raised a further $425m through a Series D funding round led by Altimeter Capital, alongside other new investors Silver Lake and Ribbit Capital.
Existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and New Enterprise Associates also took part in the round.
The fresh cash injection values Plaid at $13.4bn, according to a source close to the company. This is more than double the $5.3bn price tag Visa had agreed to pay to acquire the firm.
Visa and Plaid agreed to a merger early last year, but the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to derail the deal, saying it would harm competition in the payments market. The two sides abandoned the transaction in January.
But the latest funding round will vindicate the startup’s decision to continue as an independent company.
Plaid’s technology allows other fintech apps such as Robinhood and Venmo to link to customers’ bank accounts.
It has benefited from a shift to online payments during the pandemic and secured a number of new major clients. The company said its customer base grew 60 per cent last year.
“Looking ahead, Plaid is focused on creating a single, integrated platform focused on helping innovators build digital financial products,” said chief executive Zach Perret.
“Doing so requires scaling to meet the increased use of fintech, expanding globally to meet international demand, and delivering an expanded set of platform products to our customers.”