Rishabh Goel’s Post

❌ Stripe India is no longer onboarding Merchants (invite only). ❌ And Indians cannot set up Stripe Atlas (post for another day). Why did Stripe fail to make a dent in the world's second-largest startup ecosystem? The honest answer is, Stripe was a non-starter in India. In fact, my cofounder Ayush Agarwal in his previous VC-backed startup would route Razorpay/Cashfree for domestic transactions and Stripe for international transactions (explained later). Why did Stripe never take off in India? There are primarily three main reasons: 1. 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: All major decisions for the Indian market were taken in SFO. While Stripe India had local engineering talent, it did not have the autonomy to make local decisions. The product was never 'Indianized' and often got stuck in chicken-egg conundrums (more later). 2. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Razorpay, Cashfree, and the likes have built amazing payment products for Indian merchants. These products work well and have a strong brand name with the average Indian merchant. And Stripe could simply not compete wrt Pricing, Localisation, and GTM. 3. 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: India's switch to UPI hurt Stripe badly. India also implemented stringent data localisation laws that forced Stripe to rewrite the entire global product - from geo-agnostic to geo-localised data policy. Frequent RBI circulars did not help Stripe much. I'll illustrate the above with an example. Stripe India did not have UPI. It acquired UPI license but did not integrate UPI into its payment stack. Without UPI, onboarding Indian merchants was a non-starter. This is precisely why my co-founder used Stripe for international payments only. To integrate UPI into their payment stack, India team needed engineering resources. And the SFO office would require India team to show traction before allocating engineering resources. Classic chicken-egg conundrum. Also, India is not the only country where Stripe is retreating. It is also retreating from Indonesia where it faces local competition from Xendit, Doku etc. ----- So what can Indian merchants do if they want access to Stripe? Their best bet is to onboard with a Merchant of Record (MoR). We are building Dodo Payments, a global MoR to make global payments effortless. Once you onboard with Dodo Payments as a merchant, you can access Stripe US and a bunch of other payment gateways across the world - truly localising your global payments. DM me if I can be of help with anything payments/stripe/compliance. (source: personal conversations + Ken article)

Very pertinent issue faced by a lot of Indian startups. Hoping to see Dodo Payments solve for it! Please reach out to Rishabh Goel if you are facing issues collecting global payments.

Fintech giant Stripe has acquired a four-year-old competitor, Lemon Squeezy. In the classic Stripe fashion, the terms of the deal were not disclosed. Stripe has previously acquired 18 SaaS, Enterprise Software, and Enterprise Tech companies in the U.S and other countries —including Nigeria 🇳🇬 Here are 16 notable Stripe acquisitions through the years: 1️⃣ KickOff: A team task management and collaboration application; acquired by Stripe in March 2013 for an undisclosed amount. 2️⃣ TOTEMS: A social media marketing automation platform; acquired by Stripe in February 2015 for an undisclosed amount. 3️⃣ RunKit: An app development and prototyping tool; acquired by Stripe in September 2016 for an undisclosed amount. 4️⃣ Teapot: A startup that offers simple APIs for identity verification, trust, credit, and more; acquired by Stripe in October 2016 for an undisclosed amount. 5️⃣ Indie Hackers: A community forum for entrepreneurs; acquired by Stripe in April 2017 for an undisclosed amount. 6️⃣ Payable: A platform for onboarding and tracking contractor payments; acquired by Stripe in April 2017 for an undisclosed amount. 7️⃣ Index: A point-of-sale software; acquired by Stripe in March 2018 for an undisclosed amount. 8️⃣ Touchtech: A payment authorization FinTech startup; acquired by Stripe in April 2019 for an undisclosed amount. 9️⃣ Paystack: A Nigerian-based payment service provider; acquired by Stripe in October 2020 for $200 million. 🔟 TaxJar: A sales tax automation service; acquired by Stripe in April 2021 for an undisclosed amount. 1️⃣1️⃣ Bouncer: A credit card fraud detection technology; acquired by Stripe in May 2021 for an undisclosed amount. 1️⃣2️⃣ Recko: An Indian-based payments reconciliation software; acquired by Stripe in October 2021 for an undisclosed amount. 1️⃣3️⃣ Open Channel: A platform to build, launch, and manage app ecosystems; acquired by Stripe in December 2021 for an undisclosed amount. 1️⃣4️⃣ BBPOS: A company that designs and manufactures end-to-end mobile POS solutions; acquired by Stripe in January 2022 for an undisclosed sum. 1️⃣5️⃣ Okay: A low-code analytics software for tracking engineering teams' performance; acquired by Stripe in May 2023 for an undisclosed amount. 1️⃣6️⃣Octane: A next-generation revenue platform operating in the software business sector; acquired by Stripe in January 2024 for an undisclosed amount. Get more Stripe Statistics at the Chargeflow blog—> https://lnkd.in/ddh9bn_2 . #stripe #payments #fintech #ecommerce

Why Stripe Prevented Paystack From Growing Outside Africa A few years ago, Stripe bought Africa's fastest-growing startup, PayStack, for a staggering $200 million and praised the founders for building such an amazing company in such a short time. Like many, I believed that they would immediately absorb Paystack and go on to Stripe, but they didn’t. Instead, Stripe let PayStack exist as a subsidiary and basically keep doing what it was doing. It wasn’t until the economy took a turn for the worse that Stripe had to lay off 14% of its staff. Consequently, Paystack's CEO had to do the same and lay off almost 20% of their team, which consists mostly of hires outside of Africa in the UK and the UAE. However, as I spent the last few weeks doing extensive research on the payments industry in Africa and its many opportunities, I finally had a chance to talk to people closer to the companies and learn what caused the sudden change in geographical strategy. While many companies dream of making it big in the US or in Europe after they have captured their own market, so did Paystack. But, once Paystack sold to Stripe, ambitions quickly had to give way to reality and fit within the bigger scheme of things at Stripe HQ. Let me explain… While most payment companies in Africa are very focused on Mobile payments, there are actually very established players that have seen tremendous success in the card-based payments space. By focusing mostly on helping international and local enterprise businesses process payments domestically and cross-border, companies like Interswitch Group, Flutterwave, and even e-commerce platform Jumia Group are responsible for the majority of the volume processed outside of mobile money. So, instead of letting Paystack grow into regions outside of Africa, being a subsidiary of Stripe, this didn’t make a lot of sense, as that would interfere with the plans Stripe had for its own global growth. By letting Paystack be its own entity and focus on what I believe are at least five of the six most important Payment markets in Africa, namely Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa, Stripe is betting that Paystack can be the most dominant Payments Service Provider in Africa. Undoubtedly, one day, when the time is ripe to either spin off through an IPO, sell to a Private Equity firm, or still totally absorb into their organization. But as with other companies who have thrown around millions or even billions, like PayPal did with Braintree and Worldline had with Ingenico if you don’t do it early, it will be more challenging to do later down the line, causing you to maintain different infrastructures and missing out on the economies of scale. Let me know what you think, will Paystack be able to become the biggest Payments Processor in Africa? Or did they sell to early? P.S. If you missed my deep-dive newsletter on Africa yesterday, check it out here: https://buff.ly/3xwcYPH

𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 Stripe: 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗘-𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 In the early 2010s, starting an online business was a challenge, especially for payments. Businesses faced complex systems, compliance hurdles, and weeks of setup. In 2010, two Irish brothers, Patrick and John Collison, imagined a better way: “What if payments were as simple as adding a few lines of code?” With this idea, Stripe was born, transforming global e-commerce. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 Before Stripe, setting up online payments was tedious, requiring multiple integrations and lengthy processes. Stripe’s simple API streamlined everything, letting businesses accept payments quickly and easily. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 Stripe’s journey began in Silicon Valley, but its inspiration came from Ireland. Determined to make online payments accessible, they built a tool that allowed integration in just seven lines of code. Stripe processed its first transaction in 2011 and hasn’t looked back. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁 • Stripe’s innovations made it more than just a payment processor: • Developer-Friendly API: Easy to integrate, saving businesses time. • Global Reach: Support for 135+ currencies and payment methods. • Focus on Security: AI-driven fraud detection through Stripe Radar. • Beyond Payments: Tools like Stripe Atlas help startups launch, while Stripe Capital provides funding. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 • Stripe powers millions of businesses in 120+ countries, including Amazon, Shopify, and Zoom. • Processes over $1 trillion annually as of 2024. • Valued at $50 billion, one of the world’s most valuable private companies. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 Stripe faced competition from giants like PayPal and regulatory complexities across regions. By focusing on simplicity, reliability, and customer needs, it carved out a dominant position in the market. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗘-𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 Stripe democratized payments, enabling businesses of all sizes to scale globally. 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲 • Simplify the Complex: Stripe made payments effortless for businesses. • Think Global: Supporting diverse currencies enabled global expansion. • Innovate Constantly: From fraud prevention to startup tools, Stripe keeps evolving. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁? Stripe is diving into financial infrastructure and embedded finance and expanding into emerging markets. Its focus remains on empowering businesses worldwide. Finally... Stripe’s story proves that simplifying a single process can spark global change. By empowering developers and businesses, it has become the backbone of modern e-commerce. #𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 #𝗘𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 #𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 #𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 #𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲

We're moving to Stripe 🙊 Earlier, we were using Chargebee + Razorpay to create recurring payments and provide our customers with a good GST bill. You can collect recurring payments directly via Razorpay but try implementing your pricing with Razorpay lol and their invoicing is also very basic - our customers would never be satisfied. Just yesterday, Chargebee's integration with Razorpay broke, they've still not fixed it, at this point I think we are the only customers of Chargebee using Razorpay xD But because of this broken integration, we've not been able to accept new clients via Razorpay. Now we can't just sit and wait for them to fix the integration and lose money :/ Fortunately, our Stripe was also connected to Chargebee, so we just shifted our payment solution to Stripe, and fortunately we did not miss on new customers and payments 😮💨 But damn, once we started using Stripe, it was just so smooth and working better in India than Razopay itself 😂 That is why we're removing Razorpay altogether, and since we'll not have multiple payment solutions, and since you can create any pricing and good invoices with Stripe itself, we can remove Chargebee as well. So we'll just be using Stripe now 🥳 This also aligns with our vision of empowering more creators and brands globally, we can use Stripe payouts as well and we get to use that sweeeet Stripe dashboard 🤩 Also bonus point, it's been a while since we launched our pricing - so we have a lot of feedback and as we will have to recreate our pricing model on Stripe anyway - so we will be making it simpler as well. Making our lives and our customers' lives easier 😂 Wish us luck with this shift and comment if you've faced a similar issue with your SaaS or product 🤔

Having spent an ungodly amount of time on this piece, I can tell you it's the most comprehensive enumeration of stripe statistics and facts:

Few days ago it was Klarna partnership announced. One year ago it was Stripe - I did not manage to find any news, hints or results as related to the almost-one-year partnership. As for the Uber part the story is the following: 1. 2023 - Uber announced a seven-year cloud services deal with Oracle and Google to host its IT infrastructure, and shortly after that it launched a redesigned, simplified app that focuses on more personalized experiences for users. Taken together, the two signal how Uber — under the same cost and economic constraints as the rest of the market — is looking for better ways of targeting engineering resources on product and away from some of the functions that might be handed off to third parties to manage. Uber has been known for building and managing a lot of its payments infrastructure itself, and while it will continue with that, it’s also using a multi-vendor strategy to manage some of the work at the first and last mile of that process. That’s the opportunity for Stripe and others like it. 2. Uber’s efforts in “super app” territory have most recently been about expanding transport options. Even Uber Eats is a separate app. That is in contrast to some of its regional counterparts like Grab and GoJek, which offer not just mobility, but deliveries, online shopping, entertainment, financial services and more. #Uber #payments #stripe #partner

In its yearly note, Stripe declared that, in 2023, it had processed over $1 trillion in payments, a 25% increase from 2022. The annual letter from Stripe gives an overview of a flourishing business. Stripe is big enough that any discussion of its expansion must take into account the expansion of the payment industry as a whole. By that measure, the company is outperforming its market. Despite the huge growth that these technologies have enabled Stripe to accomplish, John Collison believes that the fintech's US$1 trillion milestone is only the beginning. “We are very early in the overall Stripe growth trajectory in the markets that we serve. But, depending on how you define digital payments, it’s US$50tn-plus in total payment volume. So, we’re less than 2% of the overall digital payments market.” Stripe was founded in 2011 by the Collison brothers, and its main business is developing payment infrastructure for both new and established businesses. Additionally, the financial technology department has created a set of tools to assist clients with billing, revenue, and taxes. 

🚀 Stripe's Meteoric Rise: From Unicorn to Fintech Titan! Stripe's journey from unicorn status in 2013 to processing over $1 trillion in payment volume in 2023 is a testament to its unparalleled growth. With a 21% market share and operations in 51 countries, Stripe powers major brands like Apple, Uber, and Microsoft. As we eagerly await a potential IPO this year, explore our comprehensive analysis of Stripe's 2024 statistics and uncover the secrets behind its success. 🔗 Read the Full Article Here: https://lnkd.in/dkwGPP-P #Stripe #Fintech #eCommerce #IPO #Chargeflow #TechInnovation