Image Credit: Stripe
When Stripe began beta testing Atlas in 2016, the service was centered around helping foreign entrepreneurs set up shop in the United States. More than a year later, the payment processing company is opening up access to American-run businesses, offering them the same building blocks to assist them in become global internet entities. Consequentially, entrepreneurs shouldn’t have to worry about applying separately for EIN and bank accounts, hiring a registered Delaware agent or a corporate attorney to manage the formation process, or anything else — Stripe Atlas takes care of all of that with a simple web form.
To date, Stripe said that “thousands of companies” have signed up for Stripe Atlas from across 124 countries, including Cuba.
Along with the program’s expansion, the company is launching additional features, including a forum for founders, how-to guides and legal templates, and an updated dashboard with live timeline tracking and document storage.
“Atlas was initially designed to give entrepreneurs in emerging markets access to the basic building blocks for starting a global internet business,” explained Taylor Francis, Stripe’s program lead, in an email with VentureBeat. “…Atlas has lowered a lot of the barriers that have historically inhibited new companies from scaling beyond their domestic markets.”
“When it comes to the U.S., however, Atlas is providing access to all the ingredients required to create a global internet business in a single place, rather than asking entrepreneurs to jump through hoops that take weeks or months,” he continued. “In a matter of minutes, founders can apply for a bank account online, EIN, incorporated entity, and Stripe account with one simple web form — and Stripe handles the rest.”
Stripe’s original hypothesis was that businesses eager to expand into…