Stripe more than doubles valuation to $95bn

The Collison brothers founded Stripe in 2010

Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Fintech giant Stripe has more than doubled its valuation to $95bn (£68.2bn) after it raised a further $600m from investors.

The payments processor, which was set-up by Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison a decade ago, was worth around $35bn after its last round less than two years ago.

Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), Allianz, and Sequoia Capital all poured new capital into the fintech, according to a statement from the company. AXA, Baillie Gifford, and Fidelity were also part of the funding round.

Stripe allows companies to process payments online from customers quickly, taking a cut of around 1.4pc and a flat fee of 20p per transaction. It counts the likes of Waitrose, Jaguar Land Rover, and Axel Springer among its customers.

The company is now believed to be the most-valuable private company ever to be created in Silicon Valley. Stripe new valuation is even greater than the $80bn price tag lumped onto Facebook before it went public.

John Collison, Stripe’s president and co-founder, said the company was investing a “ton more in Europe, especially in Dublin.

“Whether in fintech, mobility, retail or SaaS, the growth opportunity for the European digital economy is immense.”

Conor O’Kelly, the chief executive of the NTMA said that Stripe was an “accelerator of global economic growth and a leader in sustainable finance”.

“We’re delighted to back Ireland’s and Europe’s most prominent success story, and, in doing so, to help millions of other ambitious companies become more competitive in the global economy,” he said.

The US tech company had long been rumoured to be raising funds at a considerably higher value. Forbes recently suggested the company was worth $115bn as part of a private transaction between investors.

In November, Bloomberg reported the company had been in talks to raise at a value of between $70bn and $100bn.

The company has yet to show its revenues or profits with another private round keeping it away from opening its books as it would in the event of a public listing.

The new funding will be used to back its expansion in Europe with plans to hire 1,000 more staff in its office in Dublin.

The round comes a month after Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, joined the board of the company.

At the time of his appointment, Mr Carney said the nature of commerce had changed over the past decade and that Stripe had been”at the forefront of enabling this new digital economy”.

Other figures on the Stripe board include Sequoia Capital partner Sir Michael Moritz and Christa Davies, the chief financial officer of Aon.

Analysts estimate that Stripe’s business expanded by about 50pc last year.