Eight days into the new year and we have our first NYC Tech acquisition of 2019. Flatiron-based Quovo, the platform that provides access for and connects financial investment applications to wealth management accounts at traditional financial institutions, has been acquired by SF-based Plaid, which operates in a similar space connecting consumer apps to retail banking. The terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed but sources indicate the value of the transaction is just shy of $200M when accounting for all performance bonuses and contingencies.
Founded by Lowell Putnam, Michael Del Monte, and Niko Karvounis in 2010, Quovo had raised a total of $21M in funding over four funding rounds with the last round in May of 2018. Investors in Quovo include Salesforce Ventures, F-Prime Capital Partners, FinTech Collective, Portag3 Ventures, Napier Park Global Capital, Long Light Capital, IGM Financial, Great West Lifeco, Continuity Capital, Marty Bicknell, Steve Lockshin, and Ron Carson.
“Financial applications have historically used Plaid primarily to interact with checking and savings accounts,” remarked Zach Perret and William Hockey, founders of Plaid. “In acquiring Quovo, we are extending our capabilities to a wider class of assets. Our goal is to make money easier for everyone, and doing so requires that we consider consumers’ financial lives holistically. We’re excited to work with the Quovo team to enable this.”
Financial applications have historically used Plaid primarily to interact with checking and savings accounts. In acquiring Quovo, we are extending our capabilities to a wider class of assets. Our goal is to make money easier for everyone, and doing so requires that we consider consumers’ financial lives holistically. We’re excited to work with the Quovo team to enable this – Zach Perret and William Hockey, founders of Plaid.
Details have not been released about whether Quovo will operate under its own name or entity nor what will happen to the New York presence. However, it does seems as though the entire Quovo team will be joining Plaid as a part of the transaction. Plaid is said to have raised at a $2.65B valuation last year and was previously in talks to be acquired by Square.
