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Klarna acquires UK’s social shopping startup Hero

Hero

In a latest development, BNPL major Klarna has officially announced to have acquired Hero, a London and New York-based social shopping platform provider.

While the amount of the deal has not been disclosed, Klarna has confirmed that it will introduce Hero to its 250,000 retail partners, allowing their in-store teams to become content creators instantly, offering reviews, real-time advice and richer, more engaging and informative content around products. Further, all the 100+ Hero employees will join Klarna.

Founded in 2015 by Adam Levene, Hero offers a social shopping platform designed to give consumers inspiration, advice and shoppable content produced directly from retailers’ physical stores. Its client includes global brands such as Levi, rag & bone, Chloé, Harvey Nichols and the firm also shares several retail partners with Klarna’s existing network, such as Nike and JD Sports. 

Hero-virtual-social-shopping

Founded in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, and led by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO, Klarna has over 90 million global active users and does 2 million transactions a day. Further, it has over 250,000 global retail partners, including H&M, Saks, Sephora, Macys, IKEA, Expedia Group, Samsung, ASOS, Peloton, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike and Shein and is one of the most highly valued private fintechs globally with a valuation of $45.6 billion. Further, the Swedish fintech has been backed by Sequoia Capital since 2010 and more recently, SilverLake, Dragoneer, Bestseller Group, Permira, Ant Group, HMI Capital, TCV, NorthZone, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock amongst others and has over 4,000 employees while active in 17 markets.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna commented: “Immersive shopping experiences are now expected by consumers when shopping online and forward-thinking brands want to provide consumers with a rich, interactive way to shop for their products. With HERO we share an ambition to elevate the shopping experience through the convergence of online and in-store shopping experiences, supporting retailers to inform and engage consumers in new ways. We see a huge opportunity to leverage HERO’s existing platform and expertise to allow in-store retail professionals to become global brand ambassadors. This will unlock growth for retailers by creating a new hybrid shopping experience that enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions as part of an engaging and personalised shopping journey.”

David Sandström, Chief Marketing Officer at Klarna said: “With HERO, Klarna can support retailers in empowering their in-store colleagues to serve a global audience, enhancing e-commerce with the benefits of physical retail. Longer term, we see opportunities for Klarna’s 90 million global consumers to share their shopping expertise as part of a social shopping ecosystem that defies physical and online boundaries, aligned to Klarna’s mission to ensure people can shop, bank and pay in ways that suit them and their lives today. We look forward to welcoming the HERO team to Klarna.”

Adam Levene, Founder at HERO said: “Klarna is a company we’ve long admired. They have built an iconic brand and proposition, and a unique culture that makes it the perfect home for our team. By joining forces we are able to bring our technology to even more merchants and consumers across the world, making online shopping more social, interactive and ultimately more human.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6wtdRZsQpM

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