Visa invests in Very Good Security, continuing fintech spending spree

Data security and infrastructure custodian Very Good Security (VGS) received a strategic investment from Visa, which has been spending heavily this week on fintech.

Only days after the $5.3 billion mega-deal of fintech infrastructure player Plaid, Visa is making a strategic investment into VGS, a company that provides a critical outsourced role for financial services companies that want all the benefits of interacting with sensitive and regulated data without the liability or cost of securing it. The size of the investment and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“As a global leader in payments, we continue to invest in and partner with companies that provide valuable capabilities for our clients and for the network. VGS’ ‘Zero Data’ platform is an example of this," Kevin Jacques, vice president of Visa’s corporate venture arm, Visa Ventures, said in a press release. "Companies can reduce the scope of their data security and compliance requirements by eliminating the sensitive data in their systems, enabling them to develop innovative ways to pay without compromising security or functionality."

VGS has raised almost $45 million in four funding rounds since 2016, according to Crunchbase, a website that tracks investments in private companies. Its latest funding round, which is set to close January 20^th, according to Crunchbase, includes Max Levchin, Goldman Sachs and venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz as investors (all were investors in prior funding rounds).

VGS’ infrastructure-as-a-service platforms provides startups and large enterprises with data security and custodianship capabilities, which allow them to quickly add customers and launch new products. VGS stores sensitive data and personal information on behalf of companies.

The potential demand for VGS’ services is benefit from the desire to offset the cost of complying with rules and regulations such as PCI, GDPR, SOC 2 and California’s CCPA.