Stripe Opens Atlas Program To US Entrepreneurs

Stripe, the payment company, is reportedly opening its Atlas program to U.S.-based entrepreneurs after keeping it exclusive to international entrepreneurs.

According to a report in TechCrunch, the Atlas program helps startups get incorporated and set up with everything necessary to operate a businesses in the U.S. By opening it up to U.S.-based entrepreneurs, it is aiming to help U.S.-based startups get set up in the U.S.

Stripe’s Atlas program was originally designed to provide entrepreneurs with legal, financial and operational tools to get up and running. Stripe had partnered with Silicon Valley Bank for financing, Orrick for legal advice, PWC for tax help and Amazon Web Services for cloud service. The Atlas program was launched as an invite only, and while Stripe is expanding it to include U.S. entrepreneurs, it will still be on an invite-only basis, reported TechCrunch.

The report noted that since launching Atlas Stripe, thousands of companies from 124 countries have signed up for the service. And after clamoring from entrepreneurs in the U.S., Stripe responded by opening it up to them. In addition to opening up Stripe to U.S. startups, Stripe is adding new features to the program, including creating a section with detailed how-to guides and templates. Stripe also launched an online forum so that entrepreneurs can connect and share with each other and is expanding its partnership to include accelerators such as Y Combinator and crowdfunding platforms Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

In November, Stripe launched Works With Stripe, a business services platform. With 300 apps and counting, Works With Stripe is a new directory to help already affiliated and integrated companies (which there are many more of) use these apps to analyze data. From Slack to Card Flight to Xero, Taxjar and Shippo, Works With Stripe is aimed to allow businesses to do much more, from payroll to taxes, shipping and general business analytics. While Stripe — which is best known for competing with PayPal — takes a small transaction fee, the plan is for the affiliated businesses to work together, stay connected and loyal to Stripe and also allow for a continuation of the relationships and for third-party companies to integrate with Stripe down the line.