Most valued company in the US

April 12, 2021

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Although Stripe isn’t a consumer-focused company, and it doesn't have a celebrity CEO like SpaceX, Stripe has silently grown into the most valued startup in the US. In March, it raised a Series F funding round of $600MM, knocking SpaceX from the perch of US private start-up with the highest valuation.

Background
Stripe is a software startup that develops a range of products to allow businesses to accept and make payments over the Internet. The company was founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick and John Collison, and both are listed as billionaires on the Forbes Richest People in the World list. The company makes most of its revenue through standard charges of a 2.9% variable fee and a $0.30 fee per successful transaction processed. In addition, Stripe has been diversifying its product offerings, ranging from subscription billing and premium customer service capabilities to data warehousing and incorporation support services.

Success early on
Although the pandemic has benefited Stripe tremendously as shopping shifted online during the lockdown, the company had enjoyed success long before partnering with companies of all kinds, from small startups to large cororporation such as Amazon and Google. Moreover, the Collison brothers were prescient early on to woo angel investors in Silicon Valley like PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.

Investor on the side
Not only has Stripe been actively making a business for itself, but it has also invested heavily back into the market. The company has made seven large investments in the past 12 months, including one in April worth $115MM to corporate card fintech startup Ramp, as well as acquired payment processing startup Paystack in October last year.

Future of fintech
Digital commerce covers over 50% of the value of transactions in 2020. The growth of digital payments is projected at an annual rate of 13.4% by 2024, to reach $8.170TN. It is safe to say that Stripe has not yet hit a ceiling, confirming rumors that the company will likely be the largest IPO yet.

Read our detailed report for a more in-depth look at Stripe’s business model and its main competitors.

Amazon breathes sigh of relief

The e-commerce giant has managed to defeat warehouse unionization.
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Ramp joins unicorn club

Corporate card provider Ramp raises money and is on the way to success processing nearly $1 billion in transactions since launching 14 months ago.
[Read More]

Since last week, PrivCo has added:
1714 Companies | 234 Funding Activities | 111 M&A Deals

Funding & Deal Highlights:

Kavak raises $485MM
Automotive & Consumer Vehicle Retail • Round D • Lerma de Villada, Mexico

ShareChat raises $502MM co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management
Content Management Software & Internet Services • Round E • Bengaluru, India

GupShup raises $100MM led by Tiger Global Management
CRM Software & Internet Services • Round F • San Francisco, CA

Ramp raises $115MM co-led by Stripe and D1 Capital Partners
Fintech Software & Internet Services • Round B • New York, NY

Rapid Robotics raises $12MM led by NEA
AI Software & Internet Services • Round A • San Francisco, CA

Syzygy Plasmonics raises $23MM led by Horizons Ventures
Chemicals & Plastics • Round B • Houston, TX

Calamu Technologies raises $2.4MM
Data Management Software & Internet Services • Seed • Clinton, NJ

NoiseAware raises $8MM co-led by S3 Ventures and Thayer Ventures
Rental Software & Internet Services • Round A • Dallas, TX

Guardian Agriculture raises $10.5MM led by Leaps by Bayer
Agtech Industrial Machinery • Seed • Malden, MA

Endless West raises $21MM
Food & Beverage Producers • Round B • San Francisco, CA

New Equilibrium Biosciences raises $10MM from RA Capital
Biotechnology • Equity • Cambridge, MA

Upsolver raises $25MM led by Scale Venture Partners
Cloud Software & Internet Services • Round B • Sunnyvale, CA

Prosimo raises $25MM co-led by General Catalyst Partners and WRVI Capital
Cloud Software & Internet Services • Round A • Santa Clara, CA

OnlineMedEd raises $20MM
E-learning Software & Internet Services • Equity • Austin, TX

Empathy raises $13MM co-led by Aleph and General Catalyst Partners
Mental Health Software & Internet Services • Seed • New York, NY

Vesta Healthcare raises $65MM led by Deerfield Management Company
Health Care Providers • Equity • New York, NY

SafeSend raises undisclosed funding led by Lead Edge Capital
Finance Software & Internet Services • Equity • Newport Beach, CA

Casted raises $7MM led by Revolution Ventures
Broadcasting Software & Internet Services • Round A • Indianapolis, IN

Bartesian raises $20MM led by Cleveland Avenue
Consumer Products • Round A • Chicago, IL

Carmax acquires remaining stakes in Edmunds.com for $404MM
E-commerce Software & Internet Services • Acquisition • Santa Monica, CA

Sonder merges with Gores Metropoulos II for $2.5BN
Hotels, Resorts, Casinos & Cruise Lines • SPAC • San Francisco, CA

KKR acquires Therapy Brands for $1.5BN
Health Care Software & Internet Services • Acquisition • Birmingham, AL

AppHarvest acquires Root AI
AgTech Software & Internet Services • Acquisition • Woburn, MA

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