Feb 24 (Reuters) – Stripe was valued at $159 billion in a tender offer for employees and shareholders, the fintech firm said on Tuesday, a more than 70% jump from a similar share sale a year earlier.
Investors poured $274 billion into startups — the second-highest total on record — last year, as U.S. venture funding rebounded strongly, according to Crunchbase data.
Most of the funding will come from existing investors, including Thrive Capital, Coatue and Andreessen Horowitz, while the company will also use some of its cash to buy back shares, Stripe said.
“Stripe remained robustly profitable, allowing us to continue investing heavily in product development as well as acquisitions,” co-founders John Collison and Patrick Collison said in their annual letter.
The company, with headquarters in San Francisco and Dublin, allows companies to accept payments, make payouts and automate financial processes.
Beyond payments, Stripe’s revenue suite is set to hit an annual run rate of $1 billion this year, the company said.
The company’s customers include Elon Musk-led social media platform X, Amazon, car rental firm Hertz Global, and grocery delivery app Instacart.
Stripe is associated with several top AI companies and most of the biggest tech companies – 80% of the Nasdaq 100 index – as per the company.
“We believe Stripe’s lead will only expand across the future of money movement due to their leadership in agentic commerce, stablecoins, and more,” said Kareem Zaki, partner at Thrive Capital.
Analysts say ample financing is allowing late-stage startups to remain private for longer, as it gives them an alternative to public markets, which have remained volatile in early 2026.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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