US-based digital payment technology producer Stripe received $600m yesterday from investors including insurers Axa and Allianz – the latter through its Allianz X vehicle – at a $95bn valuation.
Investment and financial services group Fidelity Management & Research also participated in the round, as did investment management firm Baillie Gifford, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency.
Stripe provides digital payment processing and business management software. The funding will support European growth, as well as the expansion of its software, services and Global Payments and Treasury Network, which helps customers grow internationally.
John Collison, Stripe’s co-founder and president, said: “We are investing a ton more in Europe this year, particularly in Ireland. Whether in fintech, mobility, retail or [software-as-a-service], the growth opportunity for the European digital economy is immense.”
Internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet’s CapitalG spent $600m to lead the company’s $850m series G round in April 2020, investing alongside Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Sequoia Capital at a $36bn valuation, taking its total funding to $1.64bn.
Hedge fund manager Tiger Global Management provided $100m for Stripe in early 2019 at a $22.5bn valuation, having led a $245m round in 2018 that included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, General Catalyst, DST Global, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Khosla Ventures and Thrive Capital.
The 2018 round valued Stripe at $20bn, more than twice the $9.2bn post-money valuation at which it had raised $150m in a series D round co-led by CapitalG and General Catalyst and backed by Sequoia Capital in 2016.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company had invested an undisclosed amount in the company the month before. Fellow payment services firm Visa and American Express joined existing investors Sequoia Capital and General Catalyst in a round of undisclosed size for Stripe in 2015.
Stripe’s earlier backers include Thrive Capital, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, SV Angel, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Elad Gil, Chris Dixon and Aaron Levie.
