The online payments firm tripled its valuation to $5.5 billion in June 2020. It’s now worth $15 billion, it said today.

Fintech and online payments firm Checkout.com announced a Series C fundraising of $450 million led by Tiger Global Management.  The valuation tag of $15 billion makes Checkout.com Europe’s most valuable fintech startup and the fourth most valuable globally. (CNBC)

Tiger Global Management and Greenoaks Capital joined as new investors in Checkout.com in this round. Existing investors Insight Partners, DST Global, Coatue Management, GIC, Blossom Capital, and Endeavor Catalyst also participated.

COVID-19 and effect on digital payments

The pandemic forced the firm’s merchant-customers to pivot to e-commerce and digital payment capabilities almost overnight.

There was a sharp decline in the use of cash – a McKinsey estimate says the reduction in cash seen in 2020 was four to five times the annual decrease in cash usage observed over the past few years. Online spending with US retailers shot up 30% from 2019 levels to $347 billion. That was equivalent to 6X the 2019 annualized growth rate.

As a result of the massive shift, 2020 compressed years of digital change into a few months. Checkout.com gained the custom of 500+ new merchants and tripled its global volumes because of the new economic activity from first-time online customers transacting through its merchants.

Checkout.com Fundraising

Checkout.com first raised $230 million in 2019 and then another $150 million in June 2020. The latest round brings up its cumulative capital raising to $830 million.

“The balance sheet strength created by these collective fundraises, together with our longstanding profitability further strengthens the company’s resilience as a regulated entity in numerous markets and as the financial partner to its merchants,” Founder & CEO Guillaume Pousaz said in a statement.

Operationally, the company has tripled its transaction volumes for three consecutive years.

Checkout.com hiring à la Stripe

“We’ve been a profitable company since 2012 and whilst large funding rounds have significantly strengthened our balance sheet, we continue to focus on hiring well, being disciplined with our spending, and maximizing the use of all our resources,” the company said.

Checkout added more than 500 people in 2020 bringing its team to over 1,000. It intends to add another 700 this year, according to CNBC.

“We’re taking the Stripe approach of poaching people from the absolutely best companies globally,” Pousaz told CNBC. Checkout.com may soon appoint two significant C-suite candidates with experience at top global companies.

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