Private financial technology business Stripe Inc. is in talks to raise a new funding round valuing it higher than its last private valuation of $36 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The valuation being discussed could be more than $70 billion or significantly higher, at as much as $100 billion, said one of the people, who asked not be identified because the matter is private. That would make it currently the most valuable venture-backed startup in the U.S., according to CB Insights.
Talks are at an early stage and there’s no guarantee the funding round will be completed.
A representative for Stripe declined to comment.
Stripe’s software, which competes with Square Inc. and Paypal Holdings Inc., is used by businesses to accept payments. According to its website, Stripe’s customers include Amazon.com Inc., Salesforce.com Inc., Lyft Inc. and Instacart Inc.
The company has benefited during the pandemic with more shoppers turning to e-commerce. It’s gone on offense during the downturn this year, starting a card-issuing service for U.S. clients and agreeing to acquire a Nigerian startup to expand in Africa.
Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison founded Stripe in 2010. The duo sold their first company for $5 million when they were teenagers and are now worth about $4.3 billion each, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
General Motors Co. veteran Dhivya Suryadevara joined Stripe as chief financial officer this year.
Stripe has more than 2,500 employees and 14 global offices, according to its website.
Stripe is already well-capitalized, but a new round of financing could help it continue to scale as a private company. In April, the San Francisco-based company raised $600 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital at a valuation of $36 billion.
The business has raised almost $2 billion since it started about a decade ago, according to PitchBook Data. Other Stripe backers include General Catalyst, Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures.
