Fintech company Checkout.com revealed on Friday that it has achieved a $12 billion valuation through an employee stock repurchase initiative.
On one side, reaching decacorn status is a rare feat for startups, so a $12 billion valuation is quite significant. The company’s worth has even secured its founder and CEO, Guillaume Pousaz, a spot on Forbes’ list of billionaires.
However, not long ago, Checkout.com was valued at an impressive $40 billion during its $1 billion Series D funding round in 2022. By the end of that year, as the venture capital market turned bearish, the company had already reduced its internal valuation to $11 billion. In 2023, it dropped again to $9.35 billion, according to a spokesperson speaking to TechCrunch.
This means the current $12 billion figure is almost a 30% rise from its last valuation.
Yet, this valuation isn’t the result of new investor funding. The company itself is repurchasing shares from employees, with no external investors participating in this tender offer, according to the spokesperson. The valuation is based on a 409A assessment, which is conducted by an independent third party. While this isn’t the same as an endorsement from a professional investor, it also isn’t just the company inflating its own value.
To be fair, Checkout.com’s main competitor, Stripe, also faced a valuation drop during the same downturn in venture capital, falling from $95 billion at its peak in 2021 to $50 billion in 2023. Since then, Stripe has rebounded to $91.5 billion as of February, thanks to its own employee share buybacks. Unlike Checkout.com, Stripe’s valuation was supported by outside investors. Axios recently reported that Stripe may be preparing another tender offer at a $106.7 billion valuation.
Still, competing with one of the most valuable startups ever doesn’t take away from Checkout.com’s own accomplishments.
Based in London, Checkout.com is a favored payments provider for major e-commerce platforms such as eBay and Pinterest. The company shared that it expects to reach profitability by the end of 2024 and aims to be profitable for the entire year in 2025. Checkout.com processes roughly $1 billion in e-commerce transactions daily and has expanded its workforce by 300 this year, now employing 2,000 people across 19 offices worldwide.
Checkout.com also mentioned to TechCrunch that employees who have been with the company for at least a year will qualify for the buyback program, but did not disclose the total amount or number of shares involved.
Update: Additional details about previous valuations have been included in this story.
