Checkout.com has been knocked off its spot as Europe’s highest-value startup and replaced by a digital bank and super-app Revolut.
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This year has been brutal for fintech firms across the globe. Markets have become more volatile and, as a result, investors have tightened their purse strings.
First Klarna lost the crown in July when it suffered through an $800m down round that shaved Klarna’s valuation to $6.7bn, down from the $45.6bn valuation it had achieved on the back of a $639m SoftBank-led funding round one year earlier.
This January, Checkout.com raised $1bn at a valuation of $40m from investors including Tiger Global.
According to people familiar with the situation, the startup told employees about the valuation drop last month, at the same time lowering the price of stock options from around $252 to $65 per share, as first reported by the Financial Times.
“Checkout.com recently announced to our employees that we will align equity awards to an updated tax valuation that reflects the current macroeconomic conditions,” a spokesperson said.
“This gives our employees the opportunity to share more meaningfully in the potential economic upside as we continue to grow our business.”
Revolut joined the tridecacorn club on the back of a $800m funding round in July 2022 that pushed its valuation past the $33bn mark.
CEO Nik Storonsky has also claimed that the company is “cash-generating” and was profitable last year too. That being said, Revolut has not released its 2021 financial statements yet. It has filed for two extensions and is expected to release it at some point in December.
