One of the most valuable private fintech companies in Silicon Valley has chosen Dubai for its first expansion in the Middle East and North Africa.
The online payments company Stripe is expanding in the Middle East, just weeks after the latest round of financing, which pushed the company’s value to $ 95 billion, becoming one of the most valuable private fintech companies in the world.
“The opportunity for start-ups in the United Arab Emirates is enormous,” Matt Henderson, Stripe’s leader for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in an exclusive interview. “The opportunity for Stripe is huge, too.”
Stripe, started in 2010 by two brothers from Ireland, competes directly with PayPal, Adyen and Square. Its software platform allows companies to accept online payments.
Co-founders Patrick and John Collison, who are 32 and 30, respectively, are each worth more than $ 11 billion.
Why Dubai?
“The United Arab Emirates clearly has a booming digital economy,” Henderson told CNBC. Companies operating online in the United Arab Emirates can now use Stripe to accept online payments.
Glofox gym management software, already a global user of Stripe, said in a statement that the launch of Stripe in the United Arab Emirates “can be a catalyst for global brands like ours to expand the products and services that we can offer them to fitness businesses in the region. “
The advantage of bringing Stripe technology to Dubai, Henderson adds, is that “there are a lot of big local businesses that haven’t globalized yet. One of the ways that will help them grow and therefore help them resonate with investors is opening up these new markets. “
Commuters drive along Sheikh Zayed Road past commercial and residential properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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Blocking measures around the world have helped accelerate e-commerce, and the UAE is no exception. According to the International Trade Administration, the e-commerce market in the United Arab Emirates will be estimated at $ 27.1 billion by 2022.
“We saw just over $ 600 million in investments in new businesses in the United Arab Emirates last year,” Henderson told CNBC. “The ingredients are available for a much longer trajectory.”
“You have this combination of talent, investment and entrepreneurship as well,” he added. “So we see that there will be a lot of interesting emerging technology business in the UAE.”
The Careem ride-hailing app is displayed on an iPhone at a mall in Dubai.
Christopher Pike | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The United Arab Emirates is home to several regional success stories.
The Dubai-based Careem app was bought by Uber for $ 3.1 billion in 2019. Anghami, the first legal music streaming platform in the Middle East and North Africa, also announced last month that it will be the first company of Arab technology that will list on the Nasdaq in New York.
The road to the IPO?
It seems that Stripe is the most valuable private company that has ever left Silicon Valley after its valuation tripled in less than a year. It deserves more than both Uber and Facebook before it was published.
The former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, is on the board of Stripe, along with Christa Davies, the financial director of the insurance company Aon.
Tesla founder Elon Musk and billionaire investor Peter Thiel were early investors in Stripe.
Despite rumors that Stripe is ready for a public listing, Henderson told CNBC: “Actually, we really focus on how to grow, how to invest and really serve our users.”
Henderson said the company aims to maintain “a culture of frugality and that we try to conserve our own resources and do things in the most automated way possible.”
Although it is not yet known how many employees will add Stripe to the United Arab Emirates, it intends to stick to its capital-efficient model, Henderson said, adding: “I think that has served us well.”