Stripe is raising a new round of funding, and this one could top anything its raised before. While there aren’t any official numbers at the moment, Yuri Milner’s DST Global is reportedly leading the investment, which could be as high as $500 million. The online payments startup has enjoyed rapid success in recent months thanks to its developer friendliness, ease-of-use, and excellent customer service.
In Silicon Valley, the rich keeping get richer. Stripe, the online payments company, is in talks to raise new investment dollars at around a $5 billion valuation, according to multiple sources familiar with the deal. The exact amount of the investment could not be learned. The talks come less than seven months after the San Francisco-based company announced a $70 million investment that valued it at $3.5 billion. Stripe has raised $190 million in total in previous financing rounds. A Stripe spokeswoman declined to comment. The deal discussions underscore the current willingness among tech investors to pour huge sums of money into the hottest tech startups in quicker succession than at any point in the last few years. Startups such as Slack, Instacart and YikYak are among 20 private companies that have raised three rounds of financing a piece in the last 18 months, according to research firm CB Insights. Then there’s Uber, which is in talks to raise its third gargantuan investment in less than a year.
