Plaid, the fintech startup that quietly powers tech behemoths like Robinhood, Venmo, and Coinbase, is seeking funding at a $2 billion valuation

• Fintech company Plaid is holding talks with potential investors about raising money at a valuation of $2 billion or more. 
• The funding round is still in early stages, and a deal with investors has yet to be finalized, according to sources. 

Plaid, a fintech company whose software is used by Silicon Valley heavyweights like Betterment, Coinbase and Robinhood, is holding talks with potential investors about raising money that could value the firm at more than $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The fundraise is still in the early stages, the people said, and a formal deal with investors has yet to be finalized. 

In April this year, Forbes reported that the company's private valuation was $1 billion — meaning that Plaid, which counts 10,000 banks among its customers, has doubled its valuation in less than six months.

A Plaid spokeswoman declined to comment on the fundraise or the company's valuation. 

Plaid's proprietary software has been described as the "plumbing" of fintech: the backbone technology that verifies bank accounts, authenticates identities, and certifies balances for fintech apps.

Plaid co-founders Zach Perret and William Hockey left their jobs at management consulting firm Bain and Company in 2012 to build what they envisioned as a software application that could seamlessly connect consumers and banks. While the concept didn't resonate with investors at first, the duo began attracting attention after winning a TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon the following year. Among the company's first customers was the peer-to-peer payment software Venmo. 

It's still unclear whether or not Plaid's previous investors will re-invest. The company's latest funding round for $44 million closed in 2016 and was led by Goldman Sachs, with contributions from Citi, American Express, NEA, Spark Capital, and GV. 

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