Plaid’s glad all over with $250m funding
San Francisco-based fintech app provider Plaid is revelling in a $250 million Series C funding round.
With the investment, the start-up is now valued at an impressive $2.65 billion. It doesn’t offer specifics but it will use the funds to grow its team and expand operations. Mary Meeker, a noted American venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst, will join its board.
“Every company is becoming a fintech company”
Plaid is feeling good about life and the future. It says: “Many companies – for example, those in the sharing economy – consider embedded banking products to be a key differentiator for their hosts, drivers, sellers, and suppliers. Every company is becoming a fintech company.”
Its role is to provide a platform and a data network that delivers access to the financial system.
For example, back in October it linked up with JP Morgan Chase to help the bank make a move toward open banking by enabling account holders to share their financial data with third-party fintech applications.
Prior to that, in May it expanded to Canada as its first international market.
The firm was founded in 2013 and has got the backing of some big names. These include Goldman Sachs, Amex, Citi and Google Ventures. About two years ago it got a handy $44 million in funding led by Goldman Sachs.
Some of its users include cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, robo-advisors Betterment and Wealthfront, trading app Robinhood and PayPal’s digital wallet Venmo.
