Plaid, a company that connects financial applications to users’ 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.

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 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.

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.

Such transactions have become increasingly common among private companies using liquidity as a retention tool. Recent examples include Stripe, which this week said it would allow employees to sell shares at a $159 billion valuation, as well as Clay, ElevenLabs, and Linear.

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.

Ultrahuman on Friday unveiled a new smart ring with longer battery life and a redesigned form factor, as the Bengaluru-based wearable maker seeks to revive its U.S. business that was disrupted last year by a patent dispute with rival Oura.

The Ring Pro, Ultrahuman’s third-generation smart ring, offers up to 15 days of battery life — compared with four to six days on the Ring Air — and is priced at $479. It will be available for pre-orders globally, excluding the U.S., with shipments beginning in March.

Ultrahuman’s U.S. business was disrupted in October 2025 after the U.S. International Trade Commission — a federal agency that handles trade disputes — ruled in Oura’s favor in a patent dispute. The ruling prevented the startup from importing new ring inventory into the country, although existing retail stock continued to be sold. The blow was significant. The U.S. accounted for about 45% of Ultrahuman’s roughly 700,000 daily active users worldwide, according to co-founder and CEO Mohit Kumar.

In August 2025, Ultrahuman also filed a separate patent infringement case against Oura in the Delhi High Court, where the matter remains pending.

Meanwhile, to work around Oura’s patent, Ultrahuman developed the Ring Pro with a new design, Kumar told TechCrunch, adding that the device has been submitted to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for clearance. U.S. Customs and Border Protection for clearance to confirm it can legally be imported into the country.

Despite the U.S. disruption, Ultrahuman is currently operating at an annualized revenue run rate of about $150 million, Kumar said. It reported $64 million in operating revenue in the financial year ended March 2025. The startup remains profitable after tax, although margins are expected to narrow due to litigation costs, tariffs, and the redesign effort, he added.

Alongside the new ring, Ultrahuman introduced Jade, a real-time “biointelligence” system that analyzes user health data across its devices and services to generate personalized insights and recommendations.

Kumar said Jade is designed to move beyond retrospective health summaries toward real-time, actionable guidance.

“Most AI tools today look backward at your data,” he said. “Jade is built to react to your health in real time and surface actions users can take.”

Kumar said Jade will be available to all Ultrahuman users, including those using the older Ring Air, and does not currently require a subscription.

The Ring Pro features a redesigned heart-rate sensing architecture for improved signal quality during sleep and a new dual-core processor to enhance data accuracy and on-device computing. The device can store up to 250 days of health data and weighs about 5% to 6% more than the Ring Air, launched in July 2023 at $349.

Ultrahuman has also introduced a Pro Charger with up to 45 days of battery life to support on-the-go charging and enable faster updates and diagnostics through direct case connectivity. The charger also supports wireless charging via Qi, the same standard used by most modern smartphones.

Women account for about 68% of Ultrahuman’s user base, up from roughly 65% a year earlier, Kumar said, reflecting strong adoption of the startup’s women’s health features.

Ultrahuman also offers subscription-based services across its broader health platform, including a coaching and recovery program called PowerPlugs, the Blood Vision metabolic panel, Ultrahuman Home, and a continuous glucose monitoring offering. Subscriptions contribute about 16% of Ultrahuman’s revenue, while Blood Vision accounts for roughly 5% to 6% of the business, Kumar said.

Ultrahuman’s key growth markets include the UK, Canada, Australia, and India, Kumar told TechCrunch, with the latter contributing about 8% to 9% of overall revenue after recent investments in local customer support.

Global smart ring shipments grew nearly 80% year-over-year in 2025, driven by demand for compact wearables with advanced sleep tracking and longer battery life, said Anshika Jain, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. Oura continues to lead with more than two-thirds of the market, while Ultrahuman holds the second position.

Jain added that future leaders in the category will be defined by sensor accuracy, AI-driven insights, and seamless ecosystem integration.

Separate IDC data showed global smart ring shipments rising about 30% year over year in Q3 2025 to nearly 1 million units, driven in part by demand for screenless fitness trackers, said Navkendar Singh, associate vice president at IDC India. Ultrahuman captured roughly 25% of the market during the period, per IDC.

Founded in 2019, Ultrahuman has raised about $55 million to date and counts Alpha Wave Incubation, Blume Ventures, Steadview Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners among its investors.

Ultrahuman, Kumar said, is building additional production capacity to support demand for the Ring Pro over the coming months.

After years of appeals, Google has finally received conditional approval to export high-precision geographic information out of South Korea, a move that opens the door to let the company provide proper Google Maps services in the country, such as walking and real-time driving directions.

The move reverses a long-standing policy on data restrictions that had essentially made Google Maps and Apple Maps non-functional in the country. Google has so far provided maps services in South Korea using high-resolution, 1:5,000 scale map data, but without the ability to export that data to its servers, the company couldn’t offer features like turn-by-turn navigation or detailed listings for businesses.

South Korea has resisted Google’s appeals since 2011, arguing that the company’s precise satellite maps could endanger national security by exposing sensitive military sites when combined with commercial imagery and online data. Given that South Korea remains technically at war with North Korea, the government is cautious about exposing such locations, and had until now demanded Google set up a data center in the country and obscure sensitive locations.

The green light comes with strict rules designed to protect sensitive military and infrastructure sites. The South Korean government will verify compliance before any data leaves the country; any images of South Korean territory used in Google Maps and Google Earth must comply with national security regulations; and historical imagery in Google Earth and Street View must obscure sensitive military sites. Google is also required to either remove or limit coordinate data for South Korean locations, and only essential data for navigation and routing can be exported.

The government also requires all data processing to be done on servers operated by Google’s local partners. Sensitive topographic and military data remain off-limits, and any updates to military or security sites must be carried out promptly on domestic servers at the government’s request.

Google did not immediately return a request for comment.

The move will no doubt send ripples through Korea’s domestic maps market, which has seen local navigation apps such as Naver Map, T Map, and Kakao Map thrive in the relative absence of providers like Google or Apple.

In its announcement, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the decision was influenced by its intention to boost tourism in the country — because Google Maps has until now proved a bit useless in Korea, tourists have had to rely on local apps, whether or not they offer English language support.

The ministry said the move is also aimed at strengthening the country’s geospatial industry by supporting the development of high-precision, 3D infrastructure and geo AI technologies. The government is urging Google to help grow South Korea’s geospatial industry so that exporting the data benefits not just the tech giant, but also domestic innovation and economic growth.

Google has not yet said if it would set up a data center in South Korea. The company operates an array of data centers in Asia, including in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia.

The government also outlined new measures to handle potential security incidents related to the export of high-resolution maps. The ministry said it would work with Google to set up a “security incident prevention and response framework” to manage potential risks before any data leaves the country. For situations involving imminent threats to national security, a technical “red button” mechanism will be implemented, allowing for rapid emergency response.

In addition, South Korea will require a local officer to be stationed in-country to maintain constant communication with the government and ensure smooth handling of any security incidents.