Plaid Inc. has been valued at $8 billion following its latest private fundraising, according to people familiar with the transaction who spoke with Bloomberg. The San Francisco-based fintech completed the round to allow employees who hold shares in the private company to monetize a portion of their equity, the sources said.
The exact dollar amount raised in this financing has not been made available. Company insiders who discussed the transaction asked to remain anonymous, and public details remain limited to the valuation and the stated purpose of the round.
Founded in 2013, Plaid has grown into one of the larger financial technology companies operating in the United States. The firm provides connectivity services that allow consumers to link their financial data across multiple banks and other financial institutions, enabling third-party applications to access account information with consumer permission.
The $8 billion valuation reported for this round represents an increase from a financing in April, when Plaid raised $575 million at a valuation of $6.1 billion. That April valuation itself was a decline from the $13.4 billion valuation the company received in 2021, a period when investments in the fintech sector were concentrated at elevated valuation levels.
Market observers and participants have at times cited Plaid as a possible candidate for an initial public offering. The company remains privately held and, through this transaction, appears to have prioritized providing liquidity to employees while maintaining its private capital structure for now.
Context and implications
The financing highlights a private-market mechanism frequently used by venture-backed companies to offer employees a path to realize some value from their equity without a public listing or a strategic sale. Details on the size of the employee share sales, investor composition, or any secondary versus primary proceeds within the round were not disclosed.
Because the total proceeds were not reported, the broader financial impact of the transaction on Plaid's balance sheet and capital runway cannot be assessed from the available information.
Summary of key factual points
- Plaid's latest private funding round set the company's valuation at $8 billion.
- The round was intended to provide liquidity for employees holding shares in the private company.
- The total amount raised in the round was not disclosed; prior raises included $575 million in April at a $6.1 billion valuation and a $13.4 billion valuation in 2021.