Whop Raises $205M Led by Sequoia Capital at $5.1B Valuation as Revenue Passes $400M

Palo Alto-based startup Whop raised $205M at a $5.1B valuation, including the new investment, in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital with participation from the venture arm of Shopify Inc. Whop recently surpassed $400M in annualized run rate revenue, up from $60M at the beginning of last year, generating most of its revenue from a 6% blended average transaction fee on businesses using its platform. Former Sequoia Capital leader Doug Leone is joining Whop's board of directors as part of the deal, marking his first investment since returning to an active investing role earlier this year after previously passing on the company. Founded in 2021, the 110-person startup provides software for business creation, payment acceptance, card issuance, and optional fee-based AI models that suggest business decisions, and plans to use the capital to expand its team and open offices in Colombia and across Europe. "If there’s 50 venture firms chasing 12 Whops, it’s not so good. Right now, everybody is chasing model companies." — Doug Leone