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Plaid, a company that connects financial applications to users\u2019 bank accounts, enabling payments and data verification, has allowed employees to sell some of their shares at an $8 billion valuation, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The valuation represents a 31% increase from the $6.1 billion valuation the 13-year-old company achieved in April of last year, when it raised a $575 million<\/a> round led by Franklin Templeton for partly the same purpose: purchasing shares from employees, including to help them cover the taxes associated with converting expiring restricted stock units (RSUs, a form of equity compensation) into shares.<\/p>\n Despite its new, bigger headline number, Plaid is still valued at 40% below its $13.4 billion peak in 2021, when ultra-low interest rates drove a massive surge in fintech valuations.<\/p>\n Such transactions have become increasingly common among private companies using liquidity as a retention tool<\/a>. Recent examples include Stripe, which this week said it would allow employees to sell shares at a $159 billion valuation<\/a>, as well as Clay<\/a>, ElevenLabs<\/a>, and Linear<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beyond retention and to help staff cover tax bills triggered when RSUs vest, they relieve pressure on management to pursue an IPO before the company is ready.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n