Stripe Strides Into Singapore

Payment startup Stripe is heading to Singapore with the mission to help other local startups kickstart online businesses.

It’s the next step in San Francisco-based Stripe making strides into other countries. Recently, Stripe’s reach moved into Europe and Australia — and now, Asia. After Singapore, the plans are aimed at Japan and Hong Kong.

Stripe, which is valued at $5 billion after raising funds from Visa in 2015, is the brainchild of John Collison and his brother, Patrick. The business is backed by Sequoia Capital and PayPal founders Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.

While a country of only 5 million people, Singapore is a a digital force, especially with it being the regional headquarters for Facebook, Twitter and Google. Singapore’s eCommerce market, according to analysts, is projected to increase to $5.4 billion by 2025, which is five times what it’s currently clipping at.

Stripe offers software tools for processing services for online and mobile transactions, as well as capability to manage security for customers’ data and fraud prevention. Digital payments that it facilitates include Alipay, bitcoin, Apple Pay and Android Pay.

Stripe went live in Singapore today (Sept. 20) but has been in beta mode for about a year.