Stripe is now the most valuable private company in Silicon Valley

Stripe’s billionaire founders Patrick and John Collison have more than doubled their combined wealth to $22.8bn (£16.3bn), after closing a funding round that valued their company at $95bn. 
The fresh funding makes Stripe the most valuable private company in Silicon Valley. 
The Collisons stakes were previously worth $4.3bn apiece, owning roughly 12pc of the company each. The payment processor, which was launched by the Irish brothers a decade ago, value has almost tripled in less than two years, from $36bn. 
New participants to the round, which raised $600m, included Irelands National Treasury Management Agency, AXA, Baillie Gifford, Allianz, Fidelity and Sequoia Capital. 
Stripe allows companies to process payments online from customers quickly, taking a cut of around 1.4pc and a flat fee of 20p per transaction. It counts the likes of Waitrose, Jaguar Land Rover, and Axel Springer among its customers.
Stripe’s new valuation is even greater than the $83.5bn price tag applied to Facebook before it went public.
John Collison, Stripes president and co-founder, said the company was investing a ton more in Europe, especially in Dublin.
Whether in fintech, mobility, retail or SaaS, the growth opportunity for the European digital economy is immense.
Conor OKelly, the chief executive of the NTMA said that Stripe was an accelerator of global economic growth and a leader in sustainable finance.
Were delighted to back Irelands and Europes most prominent success story, and, in doing so, to help millions of other ambitious companies become more competitive in the global economy, he said.
The US tech company had long been rumoured to be raising funds at a considerably higher value. Forbes recently suggested the company was worth $115bn as part of a private transaction between investors.
In November, Bloomberg reported the company had been in talks to raise at a value of between $70bn and $100bn.
The company has yet to show its revenues or profits with another private round keeping it away from opening its books as it would in the event of a public listing.
The new funding will be used to back its expansion in Europe with plans to hire 1,000 more staff in its office in Dublin.
The round comes a month after Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, joined the board of the company.
At the time of his appointment, Mr Carney said the nature of commerce had changed over the past decade and that Stripe had beenat the forefront of enabling this new digital economy.
Other figures on the Stripe board include Sequoia Capital partner Sir Michael Moritz and Christa Davies, the chief financial officer of Aon.
Analysts estimate that Stripe’s business expanded by about 50pc last year.