Stripe sets one-year deadline to decide on IPO

Irish-American financial services company Stripe is considering to either go public or let its employees sell their shares in a private-market transaction, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The company’s co-founders Patrick Collison and John Collison told their staff on Thursday that they set a goal to come to a decision within 12 months, and they hired Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan in order to better evaluate the both options, sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ.

Given that it was founded in 2010, the fintech giant’s exit plan doesn’t come as a big surprise. However, it would be one of the most significant public-market debuts in recent history since the tech industry hasn’t seen much public market activity, especially after the pandemic.

Stripe last raised $600 million at a $95 billion valuation in March 2021, and the funding round saw participation from Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency, Allianz, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, AXA and Sequoia Capital.

But the post-pandemic global economic slowdown and rising inflation rates did not bypass the startup. It slashed its valuation to $74 billion in July last year, and reportedly to $63 billion earlier this month. It also laid off 14% of its workforce, or nearly 1,120 employees, in early November.