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

Payment processor Stripe raised $6.5 cardinal astatine a $50 cardinal valuation, the institution said Wednesday, a crisp discount from its grounds valuation of $95 cardinal successful 2021.

"Stripe does not request this superior to tally its business," the institution said successful a property release. The currency rise — with contributions from Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Goldman Sachs, and Temasek — volition alternatively spell towards providing liquidity to "current and erstwhile employees" and taxation obligations associated with equity awards.

Stripe, which ranked eighth connected CNBC's Disruptor 50 database past year, has present slashed its valuation by astir fractional from its highest two years ago. The institution builds outgo processing bundle for e-commerce businesses similar Amazon, Google, and Shopify.

Goldman Sachs served arsenic the sole placement agent, portion J.P. Morgan served arsenic Stripe's fiscal advisor.

Stripe has remained privately owned for implicit a decade, contempt predominant speculation astir an IPO. CNBC reported successful January that the institution would marque a determination connected a nationalist offering wrong the adjacent year.

Stripe's newest Series I circular volition beryllium non-dilutive, the institution said. By providing "liquidity" to existent and erstwhile employees, the institution volition offset the issuance of the round's caller shares. But the institution has agelong maintained that backstage ownership is optimal.

"We're precise blessed arsenic a backstage company," Stripe co-founder John Collison told CNBC successful 2021. At the time, Collison dismissed rumors of a imaginable IPO.

In July, Stripe cut its interior valuation by 28%, from $95 cardinal to $74 billion. Then successful January, The Information reported that Stripe again lowered its valuation to $63 billion. The simplification reflects the melodramatic the pullback successful tech stocks past year, which was the worst twelvemonth for the Nasdaq since 2008.

Stripe laid off 14% of its workforce successful November arsenic enactment acknowledged misjudging however overmuch the net system would proceed to grow.

WATCH: Stripe co-founder says, 'We're precise blessed arsenic a backstage company'