In what could become one of the largest IPOs for an European tech company this year, Dutch startup Adyen said yesterday that it plans to go public next month.
Like US firm Stripe, Adyen is a payment-processing platform. Its clients include Spotify, EasyJet, Uber, Mango, Netflix, and Vueling. Ebay recently ditched longtime partner PayPal and adopted Adyen as its payments system.
The Dutch firm, founded in 2006, chose a moment of extravagant growth to go public. Adyen’s volume of processed payments jumped 63% in 2017, to €108 billion ($126 billion). The revenue it generated for itself increased by 38%, reaching €218 million last year.
Reuters reports the company is aiming for a valuation of between €6 billion and €9 billion ($7 billion and $11 billion).
The Wall Street Journal noted last month that Europe’s startup scene, long eclipsed by Silicon Valley and more recently by Chinese firms like Alibaba and Tencent, is becoming more vibrant. Investment in European tech companies increased by 25% 2017, passing $19 billion.
Last month, music-streaming platform Spotify’s historic IPO drew attention to the potential of European startups. It was the eighth-largest IPO in history for a technology company, placing the Swedish firm among giants like Google and Facebook.
Adyen’s IPO might provide an even stronger boost to morale in the continent: While Spotify listed in New York instead of its native Stockholm, the Dutch company is going public in its hometown of Amsterdam.