Payments startup Stripe valued at US$9b in new funding round

Washington

STRIPE Inc raised new financing that values the startup at about US$9 billion, cementing its status as a major player in the crowded digital payments space and heralding a possible initial public offering.

CapitalG, the late-stage investment arm of Alphabet Inc, and venture capital firm General Catalyst Partners led the US$150 million round, with participation from existing investors including Sequoia Capital. The San Francisco-based startup was previously valued at US$5 billion and has raised more than US$450 million to date."The company's valuation is a reflection on its size, scale, potential profitability and an unbounded market size," General Catalyst managing director Hemant Taneja said, comparing Stripe to Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com Inc's cloud-computing business, which pulls in more than US$2 billion in quarterly revenue. "If AWS is the stack for computing, Stripe is the stack for commerce." Stripe's soaring value is a bright spot in a startup sector that has seen mostly stagnant or falling valuations this year. India's top ride-hailing service Ola is seeking new funding at a 40 per cent lower valuation. The Bloomberg US Startups Barometer, which measures things like capital raised, deal count and number of exits, has fallen 8.9 per cent in the past year. Stripe shows that some startups capable of making money can still attract richer rounds.