One of Silicon Valley’s most valuable private fintech companies has chosen Dubai for its first expansion into the Middle East and North Africa.
Online payments company Stripe is expanding into the Middle East just weeks after the last round of funding, pushing the value of the company to $ 95 billion, making it one of the most valuable private fintech companies in the world.
“The opportunities for UAE start-ups are huge,” Matt Henderson, Stripe’s business leader for Europe, Middle East, Africa, told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble Monday in an exclusive interview. “The opportunity for Stripe is also very high.”
Founded in 2010 by two brothers from Ireland, Stripe competes directly with PayPal, Adyen and Square. The software platform enables companies to accept online payments.
Co-founders Patrick and John Collison, 32 and 30 respectively, are worth more than $ 11 billion each.
Why Dubai?
“The UAE clearly has a thriving digital economy,” Henderson told CNBC. Businesses operating online in the UAE can now use Stripe to accept payments online.
Gym management software Glofox, already a global user of Stripe, said in a statement that the launch of Stripe in the UAE “could be a catalyst for global brands like ours to deliver the products and services we can offer to fitness companies in the region. to extend. “
The benefit of bringing Stripe’s technology to Dubai, Henderson adds, is that “there are a lot of great local businesses that haven’t globalized yet. These new markets.”
Commuters drive along Sheikh Zayed Road past commercial and residential properties in Dubai, UAE.
Christopher Pike | Bloomberg | Getty images
Lockdown measures around the world have helped accelerate e-commerce, and the UAE is no exception. According to the International Trade Administration, the UAE’s e-commerce market will be an estimated $ 27.1 billion by 2022.
“We already invested more than $ 600 million in UAE start-ups last year,” Henderson told CNBC. “The ingredients are there for a much, much larger process.”
“You also have this combination of talent, investment and entrepreneurship,” he added. “So we see there will be a lot of exciting emerging technology companies coming into the UAE.”
The Careem ride hailing app is displayed on an iPhone in a Dubai mall.
Christopher Pike | Bloomberg | Getty images
The UAE is home to several regional success stories.
Ride-hailing app Careem, headquartered in Dubai, was purchased by Uber in 2019 for $ 3.1 billion. And Anghami, the first legal music streaming platform in the Middle East and North Africa, announced last month that they will be the first Arab technology company on Nasdaq in New York.
Way to IPO?
Stripe is said to be the most valuable private company to ever come out of Silicon Valley, after its valuation nearly tripled in less than a year. It’s worth more than both Uber and Facebook were before they went public.
Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England, sits on the board of Stripe, along with Christa Davies, the chief financial officer of insurance company Aon.
Tesla founder Elon Musk and billionaire investor Peter Thiel were early investors in Stripe.
Despite rumors that Stripe is poised for public listing, Henderson told CNBC, “We’re really just really focused on the growth mode, the investment mode, and really serving our users.”
Henderson said the company is committed to “a culture of sobriety, and we try to conserve our own resources and do things as automated as possible.”
While it is not yet known how many staff Stripe will add in the UAE, it plans to stick to the capital-efficient model, Henderson said, adding, “I think that has served us well.”