Fintech startup Stripe launches in UAE as it makes its push into the Middle East

Just a little over two weeks after raising a whopping $600 million at a $95 billion valuation, Stripe makes its first expansion into the Middle East and North Africa with Dubai launch. The latest launch in UAE is part of the unicorn startup’s push to expand its global footprint.

As we reported back in October 2020, the digital payments behemoth acquired Nigeria’s fintech startup Paystack for over $200 million to expand into Sub-Saharan Africa. A few months before that, Stripe expanded its services in 5 new markets in Europe including the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta.

Founded in 2010 by two Irish brothers Patrick Collison and John Collison to compete directly with PayPal, Adyen, and Square, the Stripe software platform allows businesses to accept online payments. Today, Stripe is now one of the most valuable fintech startups in the world. Patrick and John Collison, who are 32 and 30 respectively, are each worth over $11 billion.

Stripe’s software is used by businesses of every size from new startups to public companies like Salesforce and Facebook to accept online payments and run complex global operations. In an interview with CNBC, Matt Henderson, Stripe’s business lead for Europe, Middle East, Africa, said: “The opportunity for start-ups in the UAE is enormous. The opportunity for Stripe is very large as well.”

Why Dubai? Henderson said, “The UAE has clearly got a booming digital economy.” Gym management software Glofox, already a global user of Stripe, said in a statement that Stripe’s launch in the UAE “can be a catalyst for global brands like ours to expand the products and services we’re able to offer to fitness businesses in the region.”