Stripe: Downround, IPO -- what's happening? 🤔; When it comes to FTX, it seems that everybody’s a creditor 🤯; Book Now, Pay Later 🏨

FinTech is Eating the World, 27 January

Hey Everyone,

TGIF! We’re finishing off a really intense week with another great issue 🌶 Today we’re looking at Stripe (what’s up with the down-round, IPO, and performance?), FTX, where everybody’s a creditor (it’s a deep blue sea…), and Book Now, Pay Later (you’re probably missing out!). Let’s jump straight into the amazing stuff.

Stripe: Downround, IPO -- what's happening? 🤔

The news mix 🗞 FinTech giant Stripe has been under an intense spotlight as of late. On the same day, two hot pieces of news were broken about one of the most valuable startups in Silicon Valley (and ultimately - the world). Let’s take a look at them both and see what they mean.

More on this 👉 The first one was about Stripe going public in the next 12 months. I first posted about this on LinkedIn:

Payments giant and one of the world’s most valuable startups has been staying private for more than a decade. But now the FinTech giant has hired investment banking heavyweights Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to advise it on taking the company public or allowing employees to sell shares in a private-market transaction.

Stripe probably won’t do a traditional IPO. The most likely scenario is that it will pursue a direct listing, where existing shares are placed on a public exchange and the market determines the price.

Shortly after the first piece of news, another one was broken out. This one might be even more intriguing as the payments giant has reportedly approached investors about raising more capital (at least $2 billion) at a valuation of $55 billion to $60 billion. According to The Wall Street Journal, Stripe would not use the money toward operating expenses but rather to cover a large annual tax bill associated with employee stock units. It is not clear if any discussions are ongoing.

What it means? 🤔 In order to unpack it, let’s look at Stripe’s latest struggles and the numbers. This will help to connect the dots.