General Catalyst Introduces $10 Million Fund to Enrich Stripe Platform

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, General Catalyst Partners (GC) is introducing the GC Stripe Platform Fund, a program in which GC plans to invest $10 million in venture capital for market-changing businesses and applications built on the Stripe Connect platform.

Stripe Connect enables businesses to connect their Stripe account (and their Stripe data) with other services: with a single click, a company can start selling on Twitter, integrate with their web analytics, or access their Stripe data on a mobile device. Applications built on Stripe Connect extend Stripe's capabilities, and overall make it better and more useful for users.

"We have watched this ecosystem develop with great interest," said Hemant Taneja, Managing Partner at General Catalyst. "It's not often that we see the formation of an important new application platform—there are only a few in each decade. Facebook, Google, Apple, Salesforce, Microsoft… when it works, it's a massively potent force. In Stripe Connect, we see the potential to build entirely new classes of services that enable businesses to better leverage their payments capabilities and data."

The GC Stripe Platform Fund is geared primarily toward rapidly accelerating, seed-stage startups who need a capital infusion to sustain their momentum. Most investments will range from $250K-$500K.

The first investment is a $500K investment in Baremetrics. An excellent example of the value being created on the platform, Baremetrics provides extensive analytics on Stripe data for software-as-a-service businesses, including dozens of real-time metrics on monthly recurring revenue, lifetime value, run rate and churn. These metrics are essential for SaaS businesses, and in one click Baremetrics gives users a constant window into their performance. Since it's built on the Stripe API, users needn't worry about any extra integration -- it just works.

"Stripe's intention is to increase the GDP of the Internet by making it easy for new types of commerce to move online. As online business models diversify, new tools will be needed to run them," said Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe. "We're committed to growing the ecosystem and supporting companies like Baremetrics and others, who extend Stripe in new directions."

How to apply
The Stripe Platform Fund is focused on two categories: startups that are building valuable extensions to the Stripe platform and add value to other Stripe users; and marketplaces or platforms that are built atop Stripe Connect, such as BigCommerce or Lyft.

Founders building an innovative business model, marketplace or app on Stripe Connect may simply send an email with a 1-page summary of the company's vision and focus, a description of the team (including links to LinkedIn profiles and/or GitHub repositories), and a link to the app or product URL to [email protected]. The fund has global reach, and is accepting applications from startups in both mature and emerging markets who can accept investments from US based investors.

For relevant companies that need capital to sustain strong momentum GC commits to making an investment decision within one week of an initial meeting.

About General Catalyst
General Catalyst Partners is a venture capital firm that makes early-stage and growth equity investments. The firm backs exceptional entrepreneurs who are building innovative technology companies that transform industries, including Oscar, KAYAK, Demandware, Stripe, Airbnb, The Honest Company, Warby Parker, Datalogix, BigCommerce, Snapchat, HubSpot, and Datto. The General Catalyst partnership leverages its broad experience to help founders build market-leading businesses. General Catalyst has offices in Cambridge, MA, Palo Alto, CA and New York City. For more information, visit: www.generalcatalyst.com or www.twitter.com/gcvp.

About Stripe
Stripe processes billions of dollars a year for some of the most successful companies and marketplaces on the Internet, making it easier than ever to accept payments and manage an online business. Supporting startups to Fortune 500 companies, Stripe powers the sharing economy, top mobile applications, and global software services.

Stripe Connect enables users to easily link their Stripe accounts to third party platforms. You can learn more about Stripe Connect here: https://stripe.com/connect

SOURCE General Catalyst