Stripe continues to cut valuation, now valued at $55 billion down from $63 billion: report

This is at least the third time since June that the payments startup has cut its internal valuation. Stripe had cut the internal value of its shares by about 11%, implying a valuation of $63 billion, in January.

Stripe is reportedly facing troubles in raising funds and is setting the per-share price at about $20, down from about $23 a share. At $23 per share, Stripe’s valuation translated to $55 billion, which is a steep discount to the valuation of $95 billion at which Stripe last raised money in 2021.

Stripe, which is aiming to turn profitable before it lists shares on stock exchanges, is raising capital to cover a big tax bill associated with restricted stock units (RSUs) of employees that are set to expire soon, as per the NYT report. It is also unlikely to launch an initial public offering (IPO) this year as it needs to find a replacement for Dhivya Suryadevara, its chief financial officer who announced her departure earlier this month, Reuters reported.

The payments company is looking to pick up funds in a round led by New York-based venture capital firm Thrive Capital.

Stripe has raised roughly $2 billion of venture capital from Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund and General Catalyst, since its inception in 2010.

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Founded by businessman Joshua Kushner, Thrive Capital is expected to pour about $1 billion into Stripe, the New York Times reported last month.Thrive Capital first invested $30 million in Stripe in 2014 at a valuation of $3.5 billion. The fintech closed a $700 million funding round that year. If the VC firm goes ahead with this deal, it would be its biggest bet to date. Founded in 2010 by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison, Stripe builds payment software solutions that allows merchants to accept digital payments in different currencies.

It processed about $14.4 billion in gross revenue in 2022, compared to about $11.7 billion in 2021.

Over the past year, tech companies have found it harder to attract new investments and many startups and technology biggies have had to cut costs and layoff their staff.