The completion of the Series D funding round comes a few months after the merger between Visa and Plaid was canceled.
Plaid Inc, a financial service company that connects banks and fintech firms, has announced the completion of its Series D funding round with $425 million, hereby raising its valuation to $13.4 billion.
Notably, Plaid intends to use the newly raised funds to further develop infrastructure to scale its market venture. “Today we’re excited to share that we’ve raised a $425m Series D financing to help scale our platform to support the massive growth in fintech, and enable the next generation of digital financial services,” the company noted in a blog post.
Some of the notable investors who took part in the Series D funding round include Altimeter Capital, Silver Lake, and Ribbit Capital. They join a group of existing investors who took part in the prior rounds including Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, New Enterprise Associates, Spark Capital, and Thrive Capital.
Plaid and Its Performance that Affects Its Valuation
The completion of the Series D funding round comes a few months after the merger between Visa Inc (NYSE: V) and Plaid was kiboshed by the Department of Justice. Notably, Visa had intended to purchase Plaid for $5.3 billion.
Speaking to media outlet CNBC, Plaid CEO Zach Perret noted that the funds will significantly help the company increase its headcount. Further, he noted that the company will shift focus in developing online platforms to help the elderly manage their finances better.
“Our market is seeing a sea change, with consumers that we never thought would be embracing digital finance engaging with it in a big way,” Perret told CNBC in a phone interview.
The merger injunction with Visa was a blessing in disguise as the company has significantly benefited from the increased demand in digital payments fueled by the Covid pandemic.
“A decade of gradual digitization was punctuated by a year of sudden adoption,” Perret said in a blog post-Wednesday. “Mobile banking is no longer the realm of startups, but rather the norm for main street banks. Not only have most of our financial interactions moved to the web, but the number of people that have access to high-quality financial products has massively increased.”
Founded back in 2013, Plaid conducted its first funding round the following year led by New Enterprise Associates whereby it raised $12.5 million. Mid 2016, the company completed its Series B round led by Goldman Sachs and managed to raise $44 million. In late 2018, Plaid announced its Series C led by Mary Meeker, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz whereby it raised $250 million.
Some of the notable Plaid customers include Venmo, American Express, and Chime.
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