Stripe confirmed on Wednesday that it had acquired OpenRouter, a fast-growing AI gateway startup. While the company did not disclose the deal price, sources told the New York Times that it paid $7.5 billion. That’s a significant increase from OpenRouter’s $1.3 billion valuation in May. The founders are expected to receive $1.5 billion from the sale, more than the startup’s entire valuation just three months ago. Investors will get the remaining $6 billion, according to the NYT.
Stripe reportedly had to outbid other interested parties, including Databricks, to secure the deal. The acquisition marks a shift for the payments giant, which has historically focused on cash management. The deal also includes a leaked letter from Stripe’s founders to its investors, in which they referenced the concept of the singularity. They wrote, “January 1 marked the beginning of the singularity and we’ve been operating on that basis.” The term is used humorously, as Patrick Collison admitted when using it at his company’s conference in April.
Stripe’s founders acknowledged that their customer bases overlap, noting that OpenRouter is “exceptionally useful for any developer” and that Stripe is “one of the world’s largest developer platforms.” The startup promised to continue operating independently after the deal closes, with its “product, mission, and current commitments remain unchanged.” The acquisition is seen as a move into expense management, particularly for AI-related costs. It joins a growing list of companies entering token expense management, including Databricks, Rippling, and Ramp.
Source: techcrunch
