Stripe announces new round of funding and plan to provide employee liquidity

Ekos can do to serve the wine industry during this time. From the beginning, the goal of Ekos has always been to help businesses run better. Especially in difficult times, we believe that having the right information at your fingertips can help you make data-driven decisions that mean the difference between failure and success. We saw this during the early months of the pandemic as our winery and brewery customers had to shift their operations due to government regulations and changing consumer habits. Those who were able to understand the state of their business and pivot were the ones who made it through.

Now, with more financial uncertainty than ever for SVB customers, we at Ekos want to offer up help where we can. We’re offering support and financial relief to new and existing Ekos customers who are affected by the SVB shutdown. We’re contacting all of our customers today to let them know that we are here to help. While the ripple effects of the past couple of days will still take a while to reveal their full impact, we will do what we can to alleviate some immediate stress. Ekos is a proud member of the wine community, and we’re dedicated to supporting businesses navigating tumultuous times. We’re here for you.

Josh McKinney CEO, Ekos

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By Linda Yang

GOCARDLESS, A GLOBAL LEADER IN BANK PAYMENT SOLUTIONS, HAS INTEGRATED WITH ZAPIER, THE LEADER IN NO-CODE AUTOMATION, TO HELP BUSINESSES SAVE TIME AND ENERGY WHEN MANAGING THEIR PAYMENTS.

Businesses can now build Zaps -- Zapier's automated workflows -- for GoCardless, eliminating manual labour for routine and repetitive tasks, such as creating a new payment mandate or tracking failed payments. Zapier’s platform includes over 5,000 apps, making it easy for businesses to connect GoCardless to the software they use every day.

Seb Hempstead, VP of

Partnerships at GoCardless, said: “Our mission is to take the pain out of getting paid. That’s why we’re excited to partner with Zapier, helping businesses tap into real-time information flows to turn manual admin into automated processes. This will give them more time to focus on their top priorities. And it’s simple to use – there’s no code involved.”

Businesses can find the new GoCardless integration on the Zapier App Directory page and learn more on the GoCardless landing page.

The announcement adds another leading name to GoCardless’ roster of more than 350 partners. These partnerships allow businesses...

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STRIPE, WHICH BUILDS ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE INTERNET, HAS SIGNED AGREEMENTS FOR A SERIES I FUNDRAISE OF MORE THAN $6.5 BILLION (EUR6.15 BILLION) AT A $50B (EUR47B) VALUATION. PRIMARY INVESTORS INCLUDE EXISTING STRIPE SHAREHOLDERS— ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ, BAILLIE GIFFORD, FOUNDERS FUND, GENERAL CATALYST, MSD PARTNERS, AND THRIVE CAPITAL—AS WELL AS NEW INVESTORS INCLUDING GIC, GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT, AND TEMASEK.

The funds raised will be used to provide liquidity to current and former employees and address employee withholding tax obligations related to equity awards, resulting in the retirement of Stripe shares that will offset the issuance of new shares to Series I investors. Stripe does not need this capital to run its business.

“Over the last 12 years, current and former Stripes have helped build foundational economic infrastructure for millions of businesses around the world, and this transaction gives them the opportunity to access the value they’ve helped create,” said John Collison, cofound- er and president of Stripe.

“But the internet economy is still young, and the opportunities of the next 12 years will dwarf those of the recent past. There’s so much to discover and to create. For us, it’s now back to work.”

Benefiting from enterprise leadership and startup waves

As traditional businesses have continued to shift online, Stripe’s enterprise user base has compounded since 2019, and now includes some of the largest global enterprises like Amazon, Ford, Salesforce, BMW, and Maersk. At the same time, Stripe continues to see strong momentum with startups. Founders are starting companies at a historic rate, and Stripe Atlas saw a 155% increase in incorporations from 2019 to 2022.

Stripe benefits from the early role it plays in technology waves that reverberate across the industry, like mobile marketplaces, SaaS, and now AI, with users like OpenAI, Anthropic, Midjourney, Copy.ai, CoreWeave, and a long list of others.

“Stripe’s strategy is inherently indexed to secular trends that will only compound for decades to come: the growth of the internet...

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