Stripe, last valued at $65 bln, raises $694 mln through stock sale
Adds background on startup environment in paragraphs 2-3, detail on previous valuations in paragraph 7
April 12 (Reuters) –Stripe, which was valued at $65 billion in February, has raised $694.2 million via a stock sale, the fintech giant said in a regulatory filing with the U.S. SEC.
The deal marks a rare bright spot in an otherwise subdued venture capital market, as investors spooked by high interest rates have been cautious despite expectations of a soft landing for the economy.
Global venture capital investments fell to a near five-year low in the first three months of 2024, according to data from PitchBook.
Investors have been keenly waiting for years for Stripe’s initial public offering. The company, however, signed a deal in February to allow employees to cash out some of their stock.
Analysts have said the agreement could potentially delay plans for an IPO and allow the company to work on further improving its finances, so that it commands a higher valuation when it goes public.
“Stripe was robustly cashflow positive in 2023 and expects to be again in 2024,” wrote co-founders John Collison and Patrick Collison in their annual letter published in March.
At its peak in 2021, Stripe was valued at $95 billion. Even at its latest valuation of $65 billion, the company is among the highest valued private startups in the U.S. alongside Elon Musk’s SpaceX and ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
The payments processing company serves a variety of high profile customers including Musk’s social media platform X, Amazon AMZN.O, car rental firm Hertz Global HTZ.O and grocery delivery app Instacart CART.O.
Reporting by Niket Nishant and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
