Stripe, Inc.
Company History
Stripe History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2010 in Palo Alto, California, United States
When was Stripe founded?
Stripe was founded in 2010 in Palo Alto, California, United States by Patrick Collison and John Collison, making it 16 years old.
- Founded
- 2010
- Founding place
- Palo Alto, California, United States
- Founders
- Patrick Collison and John Collison
- Headquarters today
- South San Francisco, California and Dublin, Ireland
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2010–2026)
- Current CEO
- Patrick Collison
- Acquisitions
- 8
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Stripe is founded |
| 2011 | Stripe launches publicly |
| 2016 | Stripe Atlas Launches |
| 2020 | Paystack acquisition |
| 2021 | Acquired Recko |
| 2021 | Acquired TaxJar |
| 2023 | Series I at $50 Billion |
| 2025 | Bridge acquisition completed |
| 2025 | $1.9T in total volume |
| 2026 | $159B tender valuation |
| 2026 | $53B PayPal bid dropped |
| 2026 | OpenRouter acquisition agreed |
- Where was Stripe founded?
- Stripe was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States in 2010. wikidata.org
- Who founded Stripe?
- Stripe was founded by Patrick Collison and John Collison.
- When did Stripe start?
- Stripe was founded in 2010.
- How old is Stripe?
- Stripe is 16 years old as of 2026.
- How did Stripe start?
- Stripe was founded in 2010 by Patrick and John Collison, brothers from County Tipperary, Ireland, who had already sold their first startup, Auctomatic.
Founding Story
Patrick and John Collison had already built and sold Auctomatic when they ran into the same problem many developers faced: accepting a card payment online meant merchant accounts, gateways and weeks of paperwork. In 2010 they started Stripe (first called /dev/payments) to turn that into a few lines of code. Early backing came from Y Combinator, Peter Thiel and Sequoia, and Stripe launched publicly in 2011.
Founders
Patrick Collison
Patrick Collison is Stripe's co-founder and CEO. Before Stripe he co-founded Auctomatic, an eBay seller-tools startup that was acquired in 2008. In 2010 he and his brother John started Stripe to make online payments easy for developers to integrate. He has led the company from a developer API into a broad financial infrastructure platform spanning payments, billing, tax, stablecoins and, from 2026, AI model routing through the planned OpenRouter acquisition. Patrick Collison was born in 1988 in Limerick. Education: Castletroy College; Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
John Collison
John Collison is Stripe's co-founder and President. He has focused on Stripe's commercial expansion, large-customer relationships and partnerships with banks and card networks. He remains President of Stripe as of 2026 and co-signs the company's annual letter with Patrick Collison. John Collison was born in 1990 in Limerick. Collison was born in August 1990 and is Irish. He is president of Stripe, and in 2016 he was the youngest self-made billionaire.
Key Milestones
Stripe is founded
Patrick and John Collison founded Stripe to simplify online payments for developers.
Source: stripe.comStripe launches publicly
Stripe became known for developer-friendly payment APIs and fast onboarding.
Source: stripe.comStripe Atlas Launches
Stripe launched Atlas in 2016, a service for forming a US company online.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPaystack acquisition
Stripe acquired Paystack to deepen payment infrastructure in African markets.
Source: stripe.comSeries I at $50 Billion
Stripe raised more than $6.5 billion in March 2023 at a $50 billion valuation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBridge acquisition completed
Stripe completed the Bridge acquisition and expanded stablecoin infrastructure.
Source: stripe.com$1.9T in total volume
Businesses on Stripe generated $1.9 trillion in total volume, up 34% from 2024.
Source: stripe.com$159B tender valuation
Stripe announced a tender offer for current and former employees at a $159 billion valuation in February 2026.
Source: stripe.com$53B PayPal bid dropped
Stripe and Advent International made a joint offer of about $53.4 billion for PayPal in July 2026 and abandoned it in late August.
Source: cnbc.comOpenRouter acquisition agreed
Stripe agreed to acquire AI model gateway OpenRouter in August 2026, reportedly for about $7.5 billion.
Source: stripe.comMajor Acquisitions
Paystack
2020Stripe acquired Nigerian payments company Paystack for a reported $200 million to expand in African markets.
Recko
2021Stripe acquired Recko in 2021.
TaxJar
2021Stripe acquired TaxJar in 2021.
Lemon Squeezy
2024Stripe acquired Lemon Squeezy in 2024.
Bridge
2025Stripe agreed in October 2024 to buy stablecoin platform Bridge for a reported $1.1 billion and completed the deal in February 2025.
Privy
2025Stripe acquired Privy in 2025.
Metronome
2025Stripe agreed to acquire usage-based billing company Metronome to strengthen its billing products for AI and software companies.
OpenRouter
2026In August 2026 Stripe agreed to acquire OpenRouter, an AI model gateway that routes token usage across 400+ models from more than 80 providers. Terms were not disclosed; The New York Times reported a price of about $7.5 billion.
Keep researching Stripe
Stripe Company History FAQ
When, where, and by whom was Stripe founded, and what was its original name?
Stripe was founded in 2010 in Palo Alto, California, by Irish brothers Patrick Collison and John Collison. Originally named "/dev/payments," the company emerged from Y Combinator and was rebranded to Stripe because corporate naming regulators rejected slash marks in formal incorporation documents.
What made Stripe's "seven lines of code" revolutionary in 2010?
Prior to Stripe, accepting credit cards online required weeks of bureaucratic bank applications, complex merchant accounts, and clunky gateway integrations like Authorize.Net. Stripe replaced this friction with a simple, elegant API that allowed software engineers to accept payments globally by copying just seven lines of JavaScript into their code.
What previous startup did Patrick and John Collison sell before founding Stripe?
Before founding Stripe, the teenage Collison brothers founded Auctomatic, an auction management software tool for eBay power sellers. They sold Auctomatic to Canadian media company Live Current Media in 2008 for $5 million (making Patrick 19 and John 17 self-made millionaires).
Which prominent Silicon Valley investors backed Stripe's early seed rounds?
Stripe secured backing from the legendary "PayPal Mafia," including Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Max Levchin, who recognized that Stripe was building the developer-first payment platform PayPal originally envisioned. Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz also led Stripe's pivotal Series A round.
What is the "Collison Installation" technique used in Stripe's early days?
In Silicon Valley lore, the "Collison Installation" refers to the aggressive onboarding method used by the brothers: instead of asking interested startup founders "Will you try our beta?", Patrick or John would say "Give me your laptop," write the integration code on the spot, and hand it back with live payments working.
When did Stripe launch Stripe Connect and why was it transformational?
Launched in 2012, Stripe Connect allowed multi-sided internet platforms and marketplaces (such as Lyft, Shopify, DoorDash, Instacart, and Substack) to onboard sellers, accept buyer payments, and programmatically route payouts to millions of independent contractors and merchants worldwide.
What is Stripe Atlas and when was it introduced?
Introduced in February 2016, Stripe Atlas is an automated platform that enables global entrepreneurs from over 140 countries to incorporate a U.S. Delaware company, obtain an IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN), open a U.S. bank account, and set up Stripe payments in just days.
When did Stripe cross the $1 trillion annual payment volume milestone?
In 2023, Stripe officially surpassed $1.0 trillion ($1,000,000,000,000) in annual Total Payment Volume (TPV), representing roughly 1% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and cementing its status alongside Visa, Mastercard, and JPMorgan Chase in global transaction processing scale.
What was Stripe's landmark $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in 2024?
In October 2024, Stripe acquired stablecoin orchestration platform Bridge for $1.1 billion in cash and equity. It was the largest acquisition in the history of the cryptocurrency industry, enabling Stripe to power near-instantaneous global borderless cross-border payments settled in dollar-pegged stablecoins like USDC.
Why does Stripe maintain a dual headquarters structure in California and Ireland?
Reflecting its founders' roots and global customer base, Stripe operates dual headquarters in South San Francisco, California, and Dublin, Ireland, allowing the firm to navigate transatlantic financial regulations, tap into European engineering talent, and lead European fintech compliance.
Why has Stripe resisted a traditional Initial Public Offering (IPO)?
Generating strong positive operating cash flows and maintaining billions in balance sheet liquidity, Stripe avoided the short-term pressures of quarterly earnings calls. To provide employee liquidity, Stripe organizes periodic multi-billion-dollar private tender offers backed by institutional investors.
What is Stripe Climate and how does it advance carbon removal?
Launched in 2020, Stripe Climate allows businesses to automatically allocate a percentage of their revenue to fund emerging frontier permanent carbon removal technologies (such as direct air capture and mineral weathering), organizing the Frontier carbon advance market commitment fund.
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