Stripe seals $7bn deal to buy AI startup OpenRouter
Stripe seals $7bn deal to buy AI startup OpenRouter Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock

Stripe, the payments company, has finalised a deal worth more than $7 billion to acquire OpenRouter, according to Bloomberg.

The reported price marks a sharp increase on the roughly $1.3 billion valuation OpenRouter secured only three months ago.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the two companies were in acquisition talks, and Bloomberg said those discussions have since led to an agreed price.

A Stripe spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company does not comment on rumours or speculation.

OpenRouter operates a marketplace that helps customers pick between different artificial intelligence models depending on the task, their needs and their budget.

It gives users a single access point to a wide range of systems, and says this prevents them from becoming locked into any one provider.

The startup claims 8 million users worldwide and access to more than 400 models.

Alex Atallah, chief executive of OpenRouter, has previously likened the business to Stripe itself, describing it as the equivalent of Stripe for artificial intelligence.

He said the comparison held because both companies offer a single gateway to multiple systems while avoiding lock-in.

For Stripe, the deal would extend its reach well beyond payments and into the fast-growing market for AI infrastructure.

The acquisition would also value OpenRouter at more than five times the price tag investors placed on it in May.

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That month, the company announced a $113 million Series B funding round, secured at a reported $1.3 billion valuation.

Backers include Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures and CapitalG, the growth investment arm of Google parent Alphabet.

The rapid jump in valuation underlines the premium investors and acquirers are placing on companies that sit between businesses and the growing number of competing AI models.

Neither company has publicly confirmed the transaction, and terms, including any regulatory conditions or expected completion date, have yet to be disclosed.


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