Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash
American Fintech Plaid Raises $575 Million, Reaching A $6.1 Billion Valuation
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
The American fintech company Plaid announced on Thursday that it has raised approximately $575 million in a recent funding round, bringing its valuation to $6.1 billion—a significant drop from its previous $13.4 billion valuation in 2021. The new investment will be used to cover tax obligations and provide liquidity for employees.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Plaid announced it has raised $575 million in a funding round led by Franklin Templeton.
- The company is now valued at $6.1 billion, a significant drop since its previous $13.4 billion valuation in 2021.
- The investment will be used for tax obligations and liquidity for employees.
According to the announcement shared by Zach Perret, co-founder and CEO of Plaid, on the website, the funding round was led by Franklin Templeton among other investors such as Fidelity Management, NEA, and Ribbit Capital.
“We are excited for the years ahead,” wrote Perret. “Plaid has evolved from a business solely focused on bank linking, into a suite of data analytics products that are essential to financial services and adjacent markets.”
The CEO assured that they’ve experienced a “substantial growth” in 2024 and that now 1 in 2 people in the United States have used Plaid.
In an interview with CNBC , Perret explained that the price drop in its valuation has to do with the current market conditions. He added that in 2021, when the company surpassed the $13 billion valuation, the market was extremely favorable for the industry, but now, four years laters, the environment has significantly changed.
“The profitability of business has gotten quite a lot better, and yet we are impacted by market multiples, as many companies are,” said Perret.
In the future, Perret confirmed that they expect to go public—and this might be the company’s last private fundraiser—but that they are not ready yet for an initial public offering (IPO) yet.
“An IPO is absolutely on our path for the coming years. We haven’t assigned a specific timeline to it,” explained Perret. “We still have a lot of internal work to do. We’re not ready, which is why we didn’t consider it right now.”
The new fundings will allow employees to cash out so that they can have liquidity.
“The proceeds of this round will be used to address employee tax withholding obligations related to the conversion of expiring RSUs to shares, and to offer some liquidity to our current team,” wrote Perret on the website.
Other fintech companies have raised funding rounds in recent months. The French investment firm Karmen secured €9 million in January to expand its services, while the health fintech PayZen raised $232 million a couple of months ago.
Photo by Mark Farías on Unsplash
Papa John’s Partners With Google Cloud To Enhance Pizza Ordering With AI
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
The global pizza restaurant Papa John’s International and Google Cloud announced a new partnership this Thursday to develop AI technologies to improve pizza ordering systems using artificial intelligence.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Papa John’s International and Google announced a new multi-year agreement to deploy AI technologies.
- The pizza company will include a new AI-powered chatbot and develop new systems to enhance services and provide customers with more personalized experiences.
- A new team called PJX will be in charge of multiple AI-powered projects.
According to the press release , the new multi-year agreement will “revolutionize the pizza maker’s ordering and delivery experience” with the help of AI technologies.
The companies created a new innovation team called PJX to enhance customers’ experience online and in-store with the help of multiple capabilities, including data analytics, machine learning, and Google Cloud’s AI.
“Our partnership with Google Cloud will enable us to take personalization to the next level,” said Todd Penegor, President and CEO, Papa John’s. “We’re not just reacting to orders – we’re anticipating our customers’ needs and proactively providing tailored recommendations and offers.”
The PJX team will use AI-powered systems to work on multiple projects, including anticipating customers’ needs, developing hyper-personalized loyalty customer experiences, defining patterns and predictions, and enhancing interactions with a chatbot integration—which includes voice ordering—, and the optimization of restaurant operations.
“PJX will bring together teams from Papa Johns and Google Cloud to elevate the experience of Papa Johns customers at nearly every touchpoint – from the moment they first crave pizza and engage with Papa Johns, all the way to enjoying the first bite of their pizza order,” said Kevin Vasconi, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Papa Johns.
According to Reuters , for the past few years many restaurants have implemented AI technologies in service optimizations. “We’ve fallen behind in many respects, but there’s a big opportunity to catch up fast and reclaim some of our tech leadership,” said Todd Penegor, hired as Papa John’s chief executive last year, to the news agency.
🍕 Through our extended partnership with @PapaJohns , its new innovation team will leverage our AI, data analytics, and ML capabilities to improve customer support, drive advanced personalization, and build proactive experiences “from click to crust” ↓ https://t.co/h3BqXFOGnK — Google Cloud (@googlecloud) April 3, 2025
Google Cloud has been announcing multiple new partnerships and projects for the past few months, including a recent alliance with Air France to deploy new AI technologies , and its SpeciesNet initiative for wildlife identification.
