Stripe will acquire current and former employees’ shares with proceeds from the raise.

Payment processor Stripe raised $6.5 billion in a non-dilutive Series I financing round, valuing the company at $50 billion, down almost 50% from the record valuation of $95 billion it garnered in a 2021 funding.

Investors include existing shareholders including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, MSD Partners, and Thrive Capital as well as new investors such as GIC, Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management, and Temasek. (CNBC)

The funds will be used to provide liquidity to current and former employees and for tax obligations.

“Stripe does not need this capital to run its business,” the company said in a news release. Shares purchased from employees would be issued to Series I investors.

The company has no plans to go public, despite frequent speculation about an IPO. The reduction in valuation reflects the tech stock pullback last year, and Stripe laid off 14% of its workforce in November.

“Stripe’s strategy is inherently indexed to secular trends that will only compound for decades to come: the growth of the internet economy and the trajectories of the world’s most innovative and forward-looking companies,” said Josh Kushner, founder and CEO of Thrive Capital, an investor in the current round. “Stripe will continue to be at the epicenter of every new technology current, and is the de facto choice for the businesses and builders that are creating the future.”

Goldman Sachs served as the sole placement agent, and J.P. Morgan as the issuer’s financial advisor.

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