Fintech Plaid Completes Tender Offer At $8B Valuation

Artificial intelligence • Fintech • Startups

Fintech Plaid Completes Tender Offer At $8B Valuation

February 26, 2026

Illustration of smartphone making a payment. Fintech

Mary Ann Azevedo

Fintech infrastructure company revealed on Thursday that it has completed a new fundraise to provide liquidity to employees at a valuation of $8 billion.

That valuation is up 31% from the $6.1 billion the San Francisco-based company was valued at in April 2025 when it completed . At its peak in 2021, Plaid was at $13.4 billion.

Founded in 2013 by and , Plaid got its start as a company that connects consumer bank accounts to financial applications. It has since gradually expanded its offerings to include lending, identity verification, credit reporting, anti-fraud and payments.

The company has raised about $1.3 billion in funding over its lifetime and, at one point, was set to be acquired by before that deal fell apart due to regulatory concerns.

Plaid鈥檚 backers include , , , , , , , , , and , among others.

Its customers include , , , , , and .

New AI focus

The increase in valuation, the company says, 鈥渞eflects momentum from the past year, as well as Plaid鈥檚 increasing relevance in the age of AI.鈥�

Last week, Plaid said it was entering a new phase of development centered on artificial intelligence. It a new foundational model as part of its goal to power the next phase of 鈥渋ntelligent finance.鈥�

It added: 鈥淎s AI penetrates financial services, Plaid鈥檚 relevance compounds. Last year, AI firms made up 20% of the companies onboarded as new customers.鈥�

Tender offers have become more common as an increasing number of startups choose to stay private longer. Earlier this week, payments giant announced its own tender offer at a $159 billion valuation. Generative AI company is also believed to be working on a at a valuation of at least $350 billion.

Total global funding to VC-backed financial technology startups totaled $51.8 billion in 2025, per SA国际传媒 . That鈥檚 a fairly significant 鈥� 27% 鈥� increase from 2024鈥檚 total of $40.8 billion raised.

SA国际传媒