Checkout.com’s valuation crashes from $40 billion to $12 billion as employees cash out shares

Checkout.com, once hailed as one of Europe’s brightest fintech stories, is facing a reality check. The London-based payments unicorn has launched a share buyback program that gives employees a chance to cash out, but the deal comes at a valuation of $12 billion — a far cry from the $40 billion peak it hit in 2022.

The company announced Friday that the buyback is intended to “provide them with a path to liquidity,” giving staff an exit option as IPOs remain scarce across the tech sector. The program is based on Checkout.com’s latest internal valuation, which the company says it regularly revises for participants in its share incentive plan.

Once a Fintech Darling, Checkout.com Shrinks from a $40B Peak to $12B in Dramatic Valuation Cut

This isn’t the first reset. Checkout.com lowered its internal valuation to $11 billion in late 2022, then again to $9.35 billion in 2023. The $12 billion figure, though higher than last year’s mark, still reflects how far the company has fallen since its funding boom days.

“The share buyback program is based on a new internal valuation of $12 billion, Checkout.com said. Although internal, the valuation marks a significant drop from its last fundraising round — Checkout.com was valued at $40 billion in a $1 billion funding round in 2022,” CNBC reported.

Checkout.com processes billions in payments every year for brands like eBay, IKEA, and Sainsbury’s, competing head-to-head with Stripe, Adyen, and PayPal. The firm says it expects to exceed 30% growth in core net revenue this year and is forecasting $300 billion in annual e-commerce payment volume. Founder and CEO Guillaume Pousaz said in a statement that the company is “relentlessly focused on growth and innovation, particularly with the impact of AI and the expected rise of agentic commerce.”

Employee share sales have become a popular workaround for private tech firms as IPO markets remain sluggish. Stripe allowed employees and early investors to sell stock in a $91.5 billion tender offer earlier this year, and Revolut recently opened up a secondary sale valuing the company at $75 billion.

Founded in 2012, Checkout.com built its reputation by offering fintechs and merchants a cross-border payments network with access to major cards, online banking, PayPal, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets. In 2022, the unicorn startup embraced crypto by enabling stablecoin payments, signaling ambitions to go toe-to-toe with PayPal and Stripe. That announcement came just weeks after the collapse of Terra UST, underscoring both the risks and opportunities in digital finance.

Now, as valuations across fintech reset, Checkout.com is positioning itself for longevity rather than headlines. The employee cash-out offer might not carry the same excitement as a billion-dollar fundraise, but for staff who have waited years for liquidity, it’s a timely exit option.