Scoop: Stripe Is Paying $1 Billion For Startup Metronome – Here’s Why

The deal announced yesterday will double Metronome’s valuation in less than a year, sources tell Upstarts. And it’s all about AI software growth.

Stripe is making a big bet on AI software growth. Credit: SOPA Images

The Upshot

Stripe’s holiday shopping for a startup called Metronome might have snuck past you.

It wasn’t the only startup acquisition news yesterday, amid a flurry of end-of-year announcements and deals. And it was announced via a company blog post, with no terms or dollar amounts attached. Not much to go on!

But Upstarts can reveal that the deal is probably bigger than you’d expect – and much more interesting in its implications not just for Stripe, one of tech’s most valuable and important startup unicorns, but for what it says about the AI software market moving forward.

Stripe is paying about $1 billion to acquire Metronome, eight sources tell Upstarts. The deal, which is still subject to closing conditions and thus is still at the “definitive agreement” stage, is expected to be predominantly cash, two sources added.

(As a caveat: such terms could be subject to change, and may not reflect the full picture of founder compensation or earn-outs.)

Stripe declined to comment, and Metronome’s CEO didn’t respond to comment requests.

That price tag means Metronome’s valuation has doubled since February, when the startup that works with Anthropic, Nvidia and OpenAI announced reached a $50 million Series C led by NEA. That round valued Metronome at $470 million, per PitchBook data.

Why would Stripe plunk down $1 billion on Metronome? We worked the phone at Upstarts, and can clue you in via three key points below.

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