Payment giant Stripe Raised $600 million With a valuation of $95 billion in 2021, it made headlines for raising funding at the highest ever valuation for a privately held startup.
That assessment seems difficult to defend. The fintech company, reportedly valued at $60 billion from $55 billion, has lobbied investors to raise at least $2 billion in additional funding.by wall street journalStripe will not use the money for operating expenses, but rather to cover a hefty annual tax related to employee stock units.
the information was revealed that same day Stripe was said to have told an employee it was Set a deadline of 12 months Is itself published, or Pursue trading in private markets.
TechCrunch reached out to Stripe for comment, but did not hear back at the time of writing.
The news comes after months of apparent struggles at Stripe. In November dismissed 14% of staff, or about 1,120 people, “Overhired for the world we are in. ” The company has also cut its internal valuation more than once in the past year.Earlier this month, TechCrunch reported that Stripe Lower internal rating to $63 billion.That his 11% cut came after an internal assessment A cut that occurred in half a year It previously valued the company at $74 billion.
Raising more capital at a valuation of $55 billion to $60 billion would certainly be characterized as a down round. — But Stripe is unlikely to be the first large-scale fintech to do so. His Klarna, a fellow European and his BNPL behemoth, raised his $800 million last year at a valuation of $6.7 billion. That’s an 85% drop compared to his June 2021 valuation of $45.6 billion.
In 2021, Stripe reportedly recorded $12 billion in total revenue and was EBITDA positive, according to the company. forbesThe company’s products provide powerful payments for “everything in between” including online and face-to-face retailers, subscription businesses, software platforms and marketplaces. Sales for 2021 and beyond have not been disclosed.
Stripe is one of many high-value fintech startups that have recently been in trouble. Decacorn in December Laid-off 260 employees, or about 20% of employees, said they had “hired and invested prior to revenue growth.”
In particular, when Stripe was announced last May, the two companies had a bit of a public quarrel despite being partners. new product, financial relations. This new product is designed to give Stripe customers a way to connect directly to their bank accounts and access their financial data to speed up or perform certain types of transactions. That’s exactly what Plaid has done historically. Plaid was announced a few months later with its own payment push.
Founded by Irish brothers John and his brother Patrick Collison (CEO), Stripe has since its inception been owned by Allianz and others through Allianz X Fund, Axa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Sequoia Capital. It has raised over $2.2 billion in funding from investors. , General Catalyst, Base Partners, GV and investors from the founder’s home country, Ireland’s National Treasury Authority (NTMA).
Want more Fintech news in your inbox? Sign up here.
Got news tips and insider tips on the topics we covered? We’d love to hear from you. You can contact us via Signal at 408.404.3036. Or contact us at tips@techcrunch.com. We gladly honor anonymous requests.
