US fintech Stripe picks Dublin for new engineering hub

LONDON: US payments firm Stripe said it would place its first engineering centre outside its home market in the Irish capital Dublin, attracted by the city’s growing technology workforce and global outlook.

The company helps businesses, including food delivery service Deliveroo and ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc, to accept online payments and was valued at more than US$9bil in its latest funding round.

Its co-founders are Irish and Dublin was already home to its European headquarters.

CEO Patrick Collison and head of engineer- ing David Singleton told Reuters the firm considered placing its first few dozen engineering jobs outside of the United States in countries across Europe, but settled on Ireland because of its international approach and widening talent pool.

“Ireland has had ... a consistent approach of being outward looking and globally minded,” Collison said, adding that aligns with Stripe’s objectives as a company.

Dublin, alongside Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam, has been touted as a potential challenger to London as the European capital of financial technology after Brexit.

The British government sees retaining that title as key to London’s status as a global financial hub. So far the vote to leave appears to have little impact on the city’s importance for the sector.

Collison said the lack of clarity around Britain’s future outside the European Union had weighed on Stripe’s choice. “This decision was certainly not made by Brexit, but certainly when we were evaluating all the different countries across Europe the uncertainty was a factor,” he said.