Stripe has raised a massive $600 million funding round at a $95 billion valuation.
The B2B payments company announced on Sunday it will use the funding injection to invest in its European operations — in particular its Dublin headquarters — “support surging demand from enterprise heavyweights across Europe, and expand its Global Payments and Treasury Network,” according to the news release.
The round’s primary investors include Sequoia Capital, Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency, Allianz X, Axa, Baillie Gifford and Fidelity Management & Research Company.
“We’re investing a ton more in Europe this year, particularly in Ireland,” John Collison, President and co-founder of Stripe, said in a prepared statement. “Whether in fintech, mobility, retail or SaaS, the growth opportunity for the European digital economy is immense.”
The company said that it powers companies in 42 countries, 31 of which are in Europe. Stripe’s largest and fastest growing segment is enterprise revenue which is more than doubling year-over-year. The company said it will continue building out its Global Payments and Treasury Network and expanding its software and services to help companies reap in more revenue. Also, Stripe will soon be available to more businesses in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the UAE.
Stripe has been known over the years for building out “payments infrastructure for the internet.” Millions of companies of all sizes — from startups to Fortune 500s — already use Stripe’s software and APIs to accept online payments, send payouts, and manage their businesses online.
Recent companies that use Stripe to “grow and diversify their online revenue, or move faster on their transformation projects,” include Axel Springer, Jaguar Land Rover, Maersk, Metro, Mountain Warehouse and Waitrose. Some European companies that build on Stripe include Deliveroo (UK), Doctolib (France), Glofox (Ireland), Klarna (Sweden), among others.
“We’re investing in the infrastructure that will power internet commerce in 2030 and beyond,” Stripe’s Chief Financial Officer Dhivya Suryadevara, said in a statement. “The pandemic taught us many things about society, including how much can be achieved—and paid for—online, but the internet still isn’t the engine for global economic progress that it could be. We’re laser focused on helping ambitious businesses grow faster. While Stripe already processes hundreds of billions of dollars per year for millions of businesses worldwide, the opportunity ahead is much larger for Stripe than it was when the company was started 10 years ago.”
Most recently, Stripe was valued at $36 billion in a $600 million funding round completed in April 2020, according to CNBC. In September of 2019, Stripe raised $250 million at a $35B pre-money valuation.
On Friday, FinLedger published a deep dive into Stripe’s business model based on CB Insights research which looks at how the company’s “developer-first approach” set itself apart and explores how it came to be the fintech rockstar that it is today.