How to Invest in Stripe Stock in 2024

Stripe processed $1 trillion in payments in 2023.

That number is up 20% from the $800 billion it processed in 2022, up 56% from 2021's $640 billion, and up 250% from 2020's $400 billion.

For the sake of comparison, PayPal, a $81-billion company, processed $1.5 trillion worth of payments in 2023.

Given these figures and its impressive list of investors and partnerships, it's not surprising you're wondering how to invest in Stripe.

While it's possible Stripe will go public before the end of 2024, it looks very unlikely.

Regardless, if you qualify, there's a way to buy Stripe stock right now.

Can you buy Stripe stock in your brokerage account?

Stripe is a private company, which means there is no Stripe stock symbol and you can't buy it in your brokerage account.

The company may have its IPO in 2024 or 2025, depending on market conditions.

Stripe generated $100 million in EBITDA in 2023. At this rate, management will be in no rush to go public until they're confident it will command a very high valuation.

If you've been following Stripe closely, this level of profitability may seem at odds with the fact that the company raised an additional $6.5 billion at a valuation of $50 billion in early 2023.

This capital, however, was not needed to run the business. Instead, the cash was raised to provide liquidity to current and former employees who wanted to cash in some or all of their stock options.

So, how can you buy Stripe?

How to invest in Stripe

Are you an accredited or retail investor?

You qualify as an accredited investor if you meet one of the following criteria:

• You have an annual income of $200,000 individually or $300,000 jointly
• Your net worth exceeds $1,000,000 (excluding your primary residence)

If you're an accredited investor, the next chapter is for you. If you don't qualify as an accredited investor, skip to the following chapter, which is for retail investors.

1. How to buy Stripe stock as an accredited investor

Hiive is a secondary marketplace which gives accredited investors access to high-growth, VC-backed startups and private companies like Stripe:

Right now, there are 16 live orders of Stripe stock on Hiive.

Each listing on Hiive is created by a seller (usually an employee, VC firm, or angel investor) who lists the number of shares they have for sale and their asking price. From there, buyers can accept an asking price as listed or place bids and negotiate directly with the sellers.

You can see all of the live orders and recent transactions for Stripe by creating an account with the button below:

Register for Hiive

2. How to buy Stripe stock as a retail investor

If you are not an accredited investor, there are still a few other ways to get indirect exposure to Stripe.

Invest in its publicly traded investors

According to Crunchbase, 58 investors have contributed to the $8.75 billion raised by Stripe.

While the vast majority of these are private equity firms, which you can't invest in, there are a few publicly traded companies that have invested in Stripe.

American Express (AXP) invested in Stripe via its Amex Ventures portfolio, participating in Stripe's Series C round, which raised ~$100 million at a valuation of $5 billion in July 2015.

Assuming American Express invested $30 million, that stake is now worth about $300 million. While that ROI is exceptional, this investment represents just 0.15% of AmEx's $194 billion market capitalization.

Visa (V) also participated in Stripe's Series C round. Again, assuming a $30 million investment, this stake is also worth $300 million, or .05% of Visa's $525 billion business.

As you can see, both of these companies' investments are inconsequential relative to the total size of their businesses, so this is a very diluted means of gaining exposure to Stripe.

Invest in Stripe's competitors

While you may not be able to buy Stripe stock, you can still invest in the rapidly growing payment processing industry by buying one of its competitors' stocks.

• PayPal (PYPL): PayPal, which owns PayPal, Venmo, Braintree, and other payment solutions, processed $1.36 trillion in payment volume and generated $29.7 billion in revenue, $5.4 billion in EBITDA, and $4.2 billion in free cash flow in 2023. The company has an $81 billion market capitalization, about 75% lower than its peak, which it set in a massive run-up in 2021.

• Block (SQ): Block, the $41-billion company behind payment processor Square and the Cash app, generated $21.9 billion in revenue and $255 million in EBITDA on $228 billion in total payment volume in 2023.

• Adyen (ADYEY): Adyen is a Dutch company that operates a payments platform in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It generated $1.75 billion in revenue, $797 million in EBITDA, and $1.97 billion in free cash flow in 2023. The company is currently valued at $45.9 billion.

It's worth noting that the level of competition and size of the opportunity have made payment processing and other "fintech" stocks incredibly volatile over the last few years.

If none of these options are appealing to you, your best bet is to wait for the company's IPO.

When will Stripe IPO?

In early 2023, the WSJ reported that Stripe was considering either going public or allowing its employees to sell their shares by the end of the year.

After the capital was raised in March to provide liquidity to its employees, it was clear Stripe wasn't going to IPO in 2023.

Like most other multi-billion dollar private companies, Stripe is likely waiting for a friendlier IPO market so it can command the highest valuation possible.

When Stripe does go public, you'll be able to look up its stock symbol and buy it in your brokerage account. If you don't have a brokerage account, we recommend Public.

On Public, you can invest in stocks, ETFs, Treasuries, corporate bonds, and cryptocurrencies, all on one of the most sleek and streamlined investing platforms.

Who owns Stripe?

As mentioned above, there are 58 external investors in Stripe at this time.

Notable investors include Elon Musk and Peter Thiel — who co-founded PayPal and were very early investors in Stripe — Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Visa, American Express, and others.

In addition to these investors, co-founders and brothers Patrick (CEO) and John (president) Collison likely own billion-dollar stakes, though the exact equity breakdown is not public information.

Additionally, C-suite executives and employees — both current and former — likely own some percentage of the company.

Stripe valuation chart

Since peaking at a valuation of $95 billion in March 2021, Stripe has seen its valuation falter.

In March 2023, Stripe raised $6.5 billion at a valuation of $50 billion in its Series I, down 50% from its valuation just two years earlier.

Its valuation picked back up in July 2024 when Sequoia Capital, a major investor, made an offer to buy up to $861 million worth of shares at a valuation of $70 billion — offering existing investors some much needed liquidity.

Here's a look at how Stripe's valuation has changed over time:

Source: Crunchbase