Why Does Stripe’s IPO Stand Out?

Online payments processor Stripe’s IPO (initial public offering) is one of the most anticipated listings in the tech industry.

How Much is Stripe Worth?

Stripe lowered its valuation to $50 billion from $95 billion as of March 15th, 2023 when they raised $6.5 billion in series I.

The company has had several fundraising rounds, with the most recent being in March 2023, when it raised $6.5 billion million from several companies including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, MSD Partners, and Thrive Capital, among others.

What is Stripe?

Stripe is a payment processing firm and it’s considered one of the most valuable technology startups. Brothers Patrick and John Collison created the private company in 2010. It has headquarters in both Dublin, Ireland, and San Francisco, California.

Stripe’s core product is payment processing, and scores of e-commerce businesses use it—including the most recognizable names. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, some of Stripe’s customers include Zapier, Slack, Google, Instacart, Amazon, and Shopify. Businesses in over 120 countries use Stripe to help facilitate commerce and growth.

What’s stopping a Stripe IPO?

When Is the Stripe IPO Date? Will Stripe go public this year? We don’t know yet.

Stripe registered its plans to go public with the SEC but an exact IPO date has not yet been published.

According to CNBC, the decision is in the hands of brothers and Co-Founders John and Patrick Collison. In January, they told employees they would decide by the end of the year to take the company public or let employees sell shares through a secondary offering.

Although many indicators suggest the possibility of a Stripe IPO in 2023, several obstacles could potentially impede its realization. It’s been rumored Stripe wants to become profitable before making shares available to the public.

In 2022, Stripe processed $800 billion in payments but still lost $80 million. The company is forecasting adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $100 million in 2023 on $1 trillion in processed payments.

Within the next 12 months, Stripe will either go public or allow its employees to sell shares via a secondary offering, as per the announcement by the co-founders. It is still anticipated as being one of the largest IPOs.

The clock is ticking, and the public is paying close attention. While 2023 is almost up and no specific date has been set for an IPO, this is a developing story that’s worth paying attention to this year.