Klarna: $1 Billion Funding And $31 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 1, 2021
  • Leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service Klarna announced today that it has raised $1 billion in an equity funding round at a post-money valuation of $31 billion.

Leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service Klarna announced today that it has raised $1 billion in an equity funding round to accelerate international expansion and further capture global retail growth. And the 4x oversubscribed round included a combination of new and existing investors and it closed at a post-money valuation of $31 billion USD, making Klarna the highest-valued private fintech in Europe and the second-highest worldwide. 

Plus Klarna said it is proud to announce the company will pledge 1% of the capital raised to a newly created initiative that focuses on key sustainability challenges around the world. And this initiative will be formally launched April 22 on World Earth Day.

Klarna enables consumers to shop, pay, and bank in a smarter way as it was designed to fit the lives they lead, not the requirements of the traditional payments and banking industry. The ongoing structural shift of consumers actively moving away from revolving credit lines to debit means Klarna’s simpler alternatives, which put consumers in control of their finances are closely aligned to evolving global consumer preferences and drive global growth. 

Last year, the Klarna app was consistently ranked among the Top 10 app downloads in the US, proving Klarna’s ability to elevate the mobile shopping experience. And consumers can browse and shop at any brand online with Klarna payment options, track spending and available balances, add favorite items to wishlists, access tailored discounts, receive price-drop notifications, track deliveries intelligently and join Klarna’s new loyalty program called Vibe.

Klarna works with over 250,000+ retail partners including Macys, Etsy, Sephora, Ralph Lauren, and Urban Outfitters are offering our services across channels. In all, this is reflected in the continued strong business results for Klarna as volume and revenue for 2020 grew 46% and 40% year-on-year to more than $53 billion and $1 billion respectively.  

KEY QUOTE:

“At Klarna, we solve problems – that is the heart of what we do for both consumers and retailers. Consumers want transparent products to help them bank, shop and pay that reflect the way they live their lives, not just outdated traditional models. Each and everyone of us at Klarna will continue to work hard on this, but it is also time for us, with our culture of change, disruption and innovation, to focus on tackling bigger, more complex issues. I believe our industry has a responsibility to help in some way solve global sustainability issues and I hope others will join Klarna in our ambition.”

— Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna