Stripe Raises $245 Million, Now Worth $20 B
Stripe just closed a hefty $245 million funding round, pushing its valuation past the $20 billion mark.
What the Cash Will Power
- Expand around the globe – Build a multinational engineering army.
- Enlarge its payments and treasury engine – Make money flow smoother, faster, and programmatically everywhere.
- Boost enterprise tools – Cater to the big players popping up on the platform.
Why the World Needs Stripe Now
Only 3 % of global commerce is online today, but predictions say that will swell to a $4 trillion ocean by 2020. With a boom of 500 million online shoppers expected in Southeast Asia and India in the next few years, businesses are itching to ride that wave.
“We’re all about the next step forward,” says CEO Patrick Collison. “Good payment infrastructure drives economic output, fuels startups, and lets newcomers keep up with the giants. By rolling out Stripe in more markets and making it work for any firm, we want to spark worldwide innovation.”
Living in 25 Countries, Moving Beyond
Stripe already operates in 25 nations, but to deliver a native buying experience everywhere it’s setting up a new engineering hub in Singapore, in addition to San Francisco, Seattle, and Dublin.
The New‑Age Payment Stack
Traditional online payments are a tangled mess of gateways, card processors, acquirers, wallets, and local quirks. Stripe says it keeps things simple.
“From day one, we focused on easy implementation and rapid innovation,” says Jordan McKee, research director at 451 Research. “This year we rolled out Stripe Issuing, Stripe Terminal, and Radar for Fraud Teams, turning us into a fully integrated platform for both startups and corporates.”
Key Features
- Advanced payments: alternate methods, ACH, bank debits, digital wallets, direct card network integration, regional bank connections, instant payouts to sellers.
- Revenue management: reduce decline rates, transact locally, boost top‑line.
- Global operations: break down language, FX, regulatory, and cross‑border barriers.
Stripe’s stack now tackles everything from corporate incorporation to issuing credit cards. This year, it launched Radar 2.0 (fraud prevention), Issuing (virtual & physical cards), Terminal (in‑person payments), and Billing (subscriptions). In total, there were over 3,200 new API releases in the past year.
Powering the Big Names
Millions of businesses rely on Stripe worldwide. Recent additions include Google, Mindbody, Spotify, and Uber. As enterprises speed up digital transformation—and as fast‑growing tech companies become big names themselves—Stripe is dialing in on the enterprise market. Its new Partner Program supports third‑party apps, and a Premium Support tier is on the horizon.
Who Joined the Round
Tiger Global Management led the deal, joined by DST Global and Sequoia. Existing backers – Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, and Thrive Capital – stayed on.
