Financial Services – Stripe payment platform valued at $ 95 billion

The US payment platform Stripe has reached a valuation of 95 billion dollars (80 billion euros) in its latest financing round – more than the former rising stars Facebook and Uber before their IPOs. Stripe, which handles payments for companies, raised another $ 600 million from investors. The overall rating results from the share in the company the investors got for their money.

Stripe wants to use the cash injection, among other things, for accelerated expansion in other countries, as the company announced on Monday night. Investors include insurers Allianz and Axa, venture capitalists Sequoia and the Irish government’s investment arm.

San Francisco-based Stripe was founded in 2010 by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison. “We are investing a lot more in Europe this year, especially at our second headquarters in Dublin,” said John Collison. In Germany, too, Stripe plans to further expand its business this year. The company is currently active in 42 countries, including 31 in Europe. Customers include the transport service providers Uber and Lyft, the food delivery service Deliveroo and Twitter.

Corona provided a powerful boost

In the last round of funding in April 2020, Stripe was valued at $ 35 billion, according to media reports. But in the corona pandemic, online business experienced a strong boost – and Stripe also benefited from it.

The new valuation is very high for an unlisted company. Before going public in 2012, Facebook had hit the $ 80 billion mark, and Uber hit a good $ 70 billion before the share placement. (dpa)