STOCKHOLM, Sept 15 — Swedish payment solutions provider Klarna said today it had raised US$650 million (RM2.7 billion) in a funding round, putting the estimated value of the company past US$10 billion for the first time.
Launched in 2005, Klarna now offers an app which provides consumers with an easy platform to shop with retailers, automatically giving them four months to pay for purchases and offering plenty of promotions.
Klarna also offers businesses online payment solutions for their proper sites, handling both credit card payments and invoices.
Klarna’s app has more than 12 million monthly users worldwide and the firm says it has over 200,000 retail partners.
According the company, the new “post money valuation of US$10.65 billion” means Klarna is the highest valued fintech firm in Europe, and fourth worldwide.
Currently operating in 17 countries, the company employs some 3,500 people.
Klarna co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the firm has benefited from “the context of the current accelerated switch to online retail and evolving consumer preferences” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, having added more than 35,000 new retailers during the first half of 2020.
The company, which says it is planning on going public, lost money for the first time in 2019 due to heavy investments as it sought to expand in the US.
New investors in the latest round of financing include private equity firm Silver Lake and investment management company Blackrock, as well as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
They join credit card behemoth Visa and rapper Snoop Dogg, among others. — AFP
