In a recent development, Klarna, an eCommerce payment solutions platform for merchants and shoppers, is expected to raise $1 billion (approx £705 million) at a $31 billion (approx £22 billion) valuation. To date, the company has raised $2.1 billion (approx £1.4 billion).
Tripling its valuation
This rumor comes six months after the Swedish fintech company secured $650 million (approx £458 million) in equity funding from investors led by Silver Lake, at a valuation of $10.65 billion (approx £7.5 billion). With the latest round, the company is tripling its valuation.
Funding round ahead of IPO
According to Bloomberg, the existing investors are participating ahead of a potential public listing next year, and the round could be announced in the coming days.
This funding will make Stockholm-headquartered fintech, Europe’s most valuable fintech startup after Checkout.com, which was valued at $15 billion (approx £10.5 billion).
On the other hand, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna CEO has indicated previously the company would go public in the near future but didn’t give any exact information.
Collaboration with Ingenico
A few days back, Klarna announced a strategic collaboration with Ingenico (part of Worldline, the European leader in the payment and transactional services industry, since late 2020) to make Klarna’s online payment solutions accessible to even more European merchants.
This will enable merchants across Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom to have the ability to implement Klarna’s seamless checkout experience and full payment suite.
Operates in 17 countries
Founded in 2015 by Niklas Adalberth, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, and Victor Jacobsson, Klarna wants to make it easier for people to shop online. The Swedish company is now one of the highest-valued private fintechs globally and provides payment solutions for 90 million consumers across 200,000 merchants in 17 countries.
Buy now pay later
The platform gives customers the freedom to choose how and when to pay. They also offer direct payments, pay after delivery options, and installment plans. Klarna is a regulated bank known for its “buy now, pay later” model that offers shoppers interest-free financing on retail purchases over a period of installments.