(Reuters) – Digital payments processor Stripe said on Wednesday it was valued at $50 billion in its latest funding round, as its valuation was cut nearly in half from its previous funding round, in a difficult economic environment.
The company said its latest round was backed by existing investors including venture capital giants Andreessen Horowitz, Peter Thiel’s founders fund, General Catalyst and others.
New investors such as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management and Temasek also participated in the round, which brought $6.5 billion in proceeds to Stripe.
Stripe’s capital raise constitutes what is commonly referred to as a bear cycle, where the latest funding brings a lower valuation to the company compared to its previous fundraising.
The company, which counts Amazon.com Inc, Ford Motor Co, Salesforce and BMW among its clients, was valued at $95 billion when it was last funded in early 2021.
After years of writing big checks for high-flying startups, investors have become more cautious as monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve drains excess liquidity.
Start-up metrics such as profitability and cash burn are now being scrutinized more closely.
Last year, Swedish giant Klarna, buy now, pay later, also faced a negative turn.
Stripe was looking to use the funds to cover a tax bill and does not need capital to run its business, the company said.
The company aims to become profitable before going public, but is unlikely to launch an initial public offering this year, Reuters reported last month.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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