Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
TechCrunch/Flickr
Patrick Collison, speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt Europe in 2013.
# earning your stripes
The Irish-owned company that's shaking up payments could be worth €4.5 billion soon
If the talks are successful, Stripe’s valuation would have increased by €2.9 billion in the space of 15 months.
STRIPE IS SAID to be in talks which, if successful, could see the payments company valued at more than $5 billion (€4.5 billion).
The company, which was founded by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison back in 2010, is believed to be in talks to raise new investment, according to Re/Code.
The exact amount it was looking to raised wasn’t confirmed, but one source for TechCrunch believes it could be as high as $500 million.
The talks come less than seven months after it announced a $70 million investment that valued it at $3.5 billion (€2.8 billion).
Back in January 2014, it was valued at $1.75 billion (€1.6 billion), meaning its value will have increased by $3.25 billion (€2.9 billion) in the space of 15 months if it’s successful.
Stripe is designed to make online credit card payments simple for startups and other companies. The San Francisco company usually charges businesses 2.9%, plus a 30 cent fee, on each transaction, similar to Paypal, and is known for being developer friendly and its ease of use.
It has been successful in developing partnerships with Twitter, powering a buy button on the service, and is said to be doing the same with Facebook. It’s also partnered with Apple Pay which allows users in the US to pay using their phone or their watch with one touch.
Stripe is currently available in five countries, including Ireland, and is in beta in another 15 countries.
If it reaches this valuation, it would be one of the most valuable startups in the world and would follow other startups whose valuations are quickly growing.
Startups like Slack, which opened an office in Dublin recently, is valued at $2.8 billion (€2.45 billion) while Uber, which is currently valued at $41 billion (€37 billion), is hoping to go through a new round of funding which would bring its valuation up to $50 billion (€45 billion).
