Stripe seals record $600m raise as payments demand soars

Just months after being named “world’s most valuable fintech startup” with a $35bn price tag, payments giant Stripe has raised even more cash.

Last night the fintech revealed an additional $600m had been raised as part of a follow-on raise with existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, GV, and Sequoia.

The raise means that Stripe now has over $2bn on its balance sheet, a warchest that will serve it well as it announced additional plans for global expansion.

Upcoming country launches include Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, and Romania, while Stripe says it’s also on the lookout for strategic acquisitions.

While for millions of startups this uncertain time has brought a cash crunch with funding drying up, clearly some fintechs like Onfido on Wednesday or indeed Stripe yesterday are seeing demand for their services grow.

“People who never dreamt of using the internet to see the doctor or buy groceries are now doing so out of necessity. And businesses that deferred moving online or had no reason to operate online have made the leap practically overnight,” said Stripe president and co-founder John Collison.

“We believe now is not the time to pull back, but to invest even more heavily in Stripe’s platform.”

Stripe announced the funding at a $36bn post-money valuation, similar to the $35bn pre-money valuation it published in September during the first half of its Series G.

Stripe says it will also continue to hire around the world during this uncertain time, and keep investing in developing its payments software.

As well as Just Eat, Mattel and NBC, yesterday Stripe also added Zoom to the list of companies using its services.