Skip to content
The Internet Compass

Series D+ · Founded 2010

Stripe

Payments infrastructure for internet businesses, from startups to global enterprises.

San Francisco8,200 employeesCEO Patrick Collisonstripe.com

Overview

Stripe built the default payments API for developers and has since expanded into billing, tax, treasury and identity. Its strategic position rests on developer distribution and authorisation-rate performance rather than headline processing fees.

Key metrics

Payment volume
$1.4T

Annualised total payment volume

Net revenue
$5.1B

Estimated, latest full year

Countries
47

With local acquiring

Gross margin
~78%

Software and platform revenue

Products

Timeline

  1. 2010

    Founded

    Launched as /dev/payments with a seven-line integration.

  2. 2016

    Atlas launches

    Company incorporation product pulls in international founders.

  3. 2021

    $95B valuation

    Raised $600M at what was then the highest US private valuation.

  4. 2024

    Profitability

    Reported positive cash flow with a stated intent to stay private longer.

  5. 2026

    AI-native billing

    Usage-based billing rebuilt around agentic and token-metered pricing.

Compensation at Stripe

Reported median total compensation by role.

Competitors