Checkout.com achieves impressive valuation through employee share buyback

The fintech company Checkout.com has achieved a company valuation of 12 billion dollars with a current employee stock buyback program. This marks a remarkable step for the company founded by Guillaume Pousaz, who is thus found on the Forbes list of billionaires. Achieving decacorn status is rare for startups and underscores the success of the payment service provider. Interestingly, the valuation of Checkout.com was at an impressive 40 billion dollars at the beginning of 2022. This peak valuation was achieved during a Series D investment round. However, with the collapse of the venture capital market in the same year, the internal valuation was reduced to 11 billion dollars. The currently achieved level of 12 billion dollars thus represents a significant increase. Nevertheless, the new valuation is based on a 409A valuation by an independent third party and not on investments from external funders. While Checkout.com has not involved any further investors in the stock buyback, this measure employs a common market practice to determine the company's value. Checkout.com faces intense competition from Stripe, another heavyweight in the industry. Stripe, too, struggled with fluctuations in valuation in the past but has been able to recover and is now aiming for further increasing valuations. Despite the competition, Checkout.com is known for its performance, especially with large e-commerce platforms like eBay and Pinterest. With a daily transaction volume of about one billion dollars and a workforce of 2,000 employees, the company demonstrates a strong presence. Checkout.com plans to become profitable by the end of 2024 and expects a full year of profitability in 2025. Employees who have been with the company for at least one year can participate in the stock buyback, but no details about the size of the buyback program have been disclosed.