Stripe Atlas startups in 2025: Year in review

Stripe Atlas reviews 2025 startup trends based on data from 23,000 companies incorporated that year.

• •20% of Atlas startups acquired their first paying customer within 30 days of incorporation, more than double the 2020 rate
• •Atlas startups now span 169 countries, with European incorporations growing 48% year-over-year, driven by founders seeking US capital markets
• •24% of multi-founder Atlas startups have cofounders in different countries, a 79% increase since 2017
• •Median time to first payment fell from 38 to 34 days, and startups hitting $100K revenue in first 6 months increased 56% versus 2024
• •42% of Atlas founders in 2025 identify as building AI startups, with agent-focused startups rising from 27% to 44% of AI builders