{"id":109634,"date":"2021-03-15T20:31:23","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T20:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=109634"},"modified":"2021-03-15T20:31:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T20:31:23","slug":"stripes-value-hits-95-billion-after-payment-giants-latest-fundraising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/stripes-value-hits-95-billion-after-payment-giants-latest-fundraising\/","title":{"rendered":"Stripe's value hits $95 billion after payment giant's latest fundraising"},"content":{"rendered":"
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Digital payments giant Stripe\u2019s value soared to $95 billion after it capitalised on a boom in ecommerce with a round of funding that pushed it past Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX as the most valuable U.S. startup.<\/p> Founded in 2010 by Patrick and John Collison when the Irish brothers were barely out of their teens, Stripe is used by more than 50 companies each processing over $1 billion annually to receive payments and bill customers.<\/p>\n Its list of customers includes Google, Uber and Amazon, and more recently Just Eat, Zoom, Jaguar Land Rover and shipping giant Maersk.<\/p>\n Participants in the San Francisco- and Dublin-headquartered company\u2019s latest financing, which raised $600 million, include units of Allianz SE, AXA SA, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Co, Sequoia Capital and Ireland\u2019s sovereign wealth fund.<\/p>\n The company said it would use the capital to invest in its European operations – which cover 31 of the 42 countries where Stripe is active – and expand its global payments and treasury network.<\/p>\n At $95 billion, Stripe is now more valuable than any bank in the euro zone.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pandemic taught us many things about society, including how much can be achieved \u2014 and paid for \u2014 online,\u201d Stripe Chief Financial Officer Dhivya Suryadevara said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Stripe already processes hundreds of billions of dollars per year for millions of businesses worldwide, the opportunity ahead is much larger … than it was when the company was started 10 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n German insurer Allianz\u2019s digital investment unit Allianz X said it saw \u201castounding growth potential\u201d in Stripe.<\/p>\n \u201cMULTI-HUNDRED BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY\u201d<\/p>\n One of Stripe\u2019s investors from its initial 2012 Series A financing round, Elad Gil, said he believed the payments firm would become \u201ca multi-hundred billion dollar company.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it ends here. I think there is still a lot of runway ahead of the company in terms of growth, market cap and impact because it powers such a fundamental piece of the modern technology infrastructure,\u201d Gil, who has backed other technology breakouts like Airbnb, Pinterest and Square, told Reuters.<\/p>\n As part of the $50 million invested by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, the country\u2019s sovereign wealth fund, Stripe will add over 1,000 more jobs in the Collison brothers\u2019 native country over the next five years.<\/p>\n Large multinational companies like Facebook, Apple and most recently TikTok have set up substantial operations in Ireland, drawn by its low corporate tax rate, and now employ one in eight people.<\/p>\n From Limerick in the southwest of Ireland, the Collisons sold their first business for a reported $5 million while John, the younger of the two, was still in school.<\/p>\n The pair left Ireland to study at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They dropped out, moved to Palo Alto, California and founded Stripe.<\/p>\n