Altimeter to Lead Plaid Deal After Scrapped Visa Merger

Plaid, the financial technology startup whose planned sale to Visa fell apart in January, is raising about $600 million in a funding round that could value it at between $10 billion to $15 billion, according to four people close to the company. Altimeter Capital, a hedge fund turned VC firm that has bought stakes in some of Silicon Valley’s top companies, is leading the financing, these people said.

The scuttled sale to Visa, which fell apart after the U.S. Department of Justice challenged the deal, sparked an investor rush to buy shares in Plaid. The performances of publicly traded financial payments companies Square and Adyen during the pandemic shutdowns have encouraged investors to pay up for ownership in private fintech startups.