Jacques Demarthon | AFP via Getty Images
Payments processor Stripe raised $6.5 billion at a $50 billion valuation, the company said Wednesday, a steep discount from its record $95 billion valuation in 2021.
“Stripe does not need this capital to operate its business,” the company said in a press release. The cash increase – with contributions from Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Goldman Sachs and Temasek – will instead go towards providing liquidity to “current and former employees” and tax liabilities associated with stock awards.
Stripe, which was number eight on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list last year, has now cut its valuation by nearly half from its peak two years ago. The company builds payment processing software for e-commerce companies such as Amazon, Google and Shopify.
Goldman Sachs acted as the sole placement agent, while JP Morgan acted as Stripe’s financial advisor.
Stripe has been privately held for over a decade, despite frequent speculation about an IPO. CNBC reported in January that the company would make a decision on an IPO within the next year.
Stripe’s latest Series I round will be non-dilutive, the company said. By making “liquidity” available to current and former employees, the company will offset the issuance of the round’s new shares. But the company has long maintained that private ownership is optimal.
“We’re very happy as a private company,” Stripe co-founder John Collison told CNBC in 2021. At the time, Collison dismissed rumors of a potential IPO.
In July, Stripe lowered its intrinsic valuation by 28%, from $95 billion to $74 billion. Then in January, The Information reported that Stripe again lowered its valuation to $63 billion. The reduction reflects the dramatic decline in technology stocks last year, which was the worst year for the Nasdaq since 2008.
Stripe laid off 14% of its workforce in November when management admitted to misjudging how much the internet economy would continue to grow.
WATCH: Stripe co-founder says: ‘We’re very happy as a private company’