Stripe slashes valuation to $50 billion in new $6.5 billion funding spherical

Fee processor Stripe raised $6.5 billion at a $50 billion valuation, the corporate mentioned Wednesday, a pointy low cost from its file valuation of $95 billion in 2021.

“Stripe doesn’t want this capital to run its enterprise,” the corporate mentioned in a press launch. The money elevate — with contributions from Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Goldman Sachs, and Temasek — will as a substitute go in direction of offering liquidity to “present and former staff” and tax obligations related to fairness awards.

Stripe, which ranked eighth on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 listing final yr, has now slashed its valuation by virtually half from its peak two years in the past. The corporate builds fee processing software program for e-commerce companies like Amazon, Google, and Shopify.

Goldman Sachs served as the only real placement agent, whereas J.P. Morgan served as Stripe’s monetary advisor.

Stripe has remained privately owned for over a decade, regardless of frequent hypothesis about an IPO. CNBC reported in January that the corporate would decide on a public providing inside the subsequent yr.

Stripe’s latest Sequence I spherical might be non-dilutive, the corporate mentioned. By offering “liquidity” to present and former staff, the corporate will offset the issuance of the spherical’s new shares. However the firm has lengthy maintained that personal possession is perfect.

“We’re very completely happy as a personal firm,” Stripe co-founder John Collison instructed CNBC in 2021. On the time, Collison dismissed rumors of a possible IPO.

In July, Stripe minimize its inner valuation by 28%, from $95 billion to $74 billion. Then in January, The Data reported that Stripe once more lowered its valuation to $63 billion. The discount displays the dramatic the pullback in tech shares final yr, which was the worst yr for the Nasdaq since 2008.

Stripe laid off 14% of its workforce in November as management acknowledged misjudging how a lot the web economic system would proceed to develop.

WATCH: Stripe co-founder says, ‘We’re very completely happy as a personal firm’