US fintech company Stripe has raised an additional $150m (£120m) in an investment round led by CapitalG and General Catalyst, as well as previous investors Sequoia Capital. According to the Wall Street Journal, the funding round places the value of the company at over $9bn.

The value of the company has almost doubled since its previous valuation in summer 2015, and reflects the growth the firm has seen. Its platform, which enables websites and apps to add payment options with a few lines of code and an API, is increasingly popular with disruptive startups like Deliveroo and Kickstarter.

The firm already has users in 110 countries, and now larger, established companies are starting to take notice. In the past year, companies including Slack, Medium, Adidas, the Daily Mail and both US presidential campaigns have all become Stripe customers.

The news comes at an interesting time for both high value tech firms and payments companies. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday in full swing, Stripe and other online payments firms can expect to see big revenues over the next few weeks, as they take a small cut of every transaction they power.

The giant leap in valuation since its previous funding round comes at a time when many are questioning the value of unicorn startups, and there are concerns that a second tech bubble is forming. However, by linking its valuation so closely to the seasonal shopping boost, Stripe is likely hoping to remind investors that it is rooted in regular revenues.

Business Insider cited a source close to the company who said that Stripe intends to use the money to expand its product line, investing in or acquiring other companies and moving into new markets. It also plans on strengthening fraud prevention systems, a growing concern among large companies.