Just how low can Stripe Inc.'s valuation go?
The payment processor is attempting to raise $4 billion in funding at a valuation of around $50 billion, according to The Information. The Information's story Wednesday comes about a month after The New York Times reported the South San Francisco company was trying to raise $2.5 billion at a valuation between $55 billion and $60 billion.
Stripe hasn't yet announced it's closed a new funding deal for either amount.
But whether the company raises money at a $50 billion valuation, a $60 billion one or somewhere in between, it would mark a huge drop in worth. The last time Stripe's valuation was reassessed was as part of a 2021 funding round, when its backers valued it at $95 billion.
Part of what's weighing on the company's valuation is that investors are unfavorably comparing its finances with those of Adyen NV, a publicly traded rival that's based in the Netherlands, according to a separate report from The Information earlier this week. Adyen generated more revenue per employee than Stripe, while its per employee expenses were about half those of the Bay Area company, The Information reported.
Stripe's fundraising effort is a consequence of it's not yet having gone public, The Information reported. Many of the stock grants the 13-year-old company gave its employees are now set to expire. Stripe plans to extend the life of those grants, but doing so will leave it with a hefty tax bill, The Information reported. It's hoping to raise new money to defray that cost, according to the report.
Here's more Bay Area startup and venture news at midweek:
Fundings
- Quantifind Inc., Palo Alto, $23 million: DNS Capital led the round for this provider of risk management software for financial services providers. Citi Ventures, US Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners and S&P Global also invested.
- Gable Inc., San Francisco, $12 million, Series A: SemperVirens and Foundation Capital led the round for this provider of a service that helps remotely based corporate teams find and reserve offices and conference rooms on an ad-hoc basis. Tishman Speyer Ventures, Ulu Ventures and January Ventures also participated.
- Savant Labs Inc., San Mateo, $11 million, Seed: Cota Capital led the round for this provider of data analysis software. WestWave Capital, Bloomberg Beta, Uncorrelated Ventures and Handshake Ventures also invested.
- Portal Labs Inc., San Francisco, $5.3 million, Seed: Slow Ventures and Haun Ventures led the round for this provider of software for creating cryptocurrency wallets.
- Crstl Technologies Inc., San Francisco, $4.4 million, Seed: Mastry Ventures led the round for this provider of an online service that helps consumer product makers more easily get their goods on to retail store shelves. Village Global, Alumni Ventures, SuperAngel VC, On Deck, Mensch Capital Partners and Harizury also participated.
- Domatic Inc., San Francisco, $4 million, Seed: Brick & Mortar Ventures led the round for this developer of a direct current electrical wiring system for houses and other buildings. Catapult VC, Alchemist and Third Sphere also invested.
Funders in the news
- Bain Capital Ventures raised $1.9 billion across two new funds. The San Francisco- and New York-based firm raised a $1.4 billion fund to invest in early stage startups and a $493 million fund to invest in later stage companies.
- Section Ventures is raising a $50 million fund, according to a regulatory filing. The investment vehicle would be the second for the Palo Alto firm.
- US Venture Partners added Matt Garratt as a general partner. Before joining the Menlo Park firm, Garratt was a general partner with CRV and an executive with Salesforce.com Inc.
- 500 Global hired Saemin Ahn, Shahril Ibrahim and Martin Cu as partners. Before joining the Palo Alto venture firm and accelerator, Ahn was with Rakuten Ventures, Ibrahim was with Khazanah Americas, and Cu was with Ninja Van.
