Klarna becomes Europe’s most valuable fintech hitting over $10 billion valuation

Swedish BNPL provider Klarna has raised $650 million in funding led by Silver Lake with the valuation of the company hitting $10.65 billion.

Klarna says is most likely the highest-valued private fintech company in Europe as it was tied with Revolut at $5.5 billion valuation until now.

Read also: Revolut and Sage announce a new partnership

This funding came from Silver Lake, GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund) and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and HMI Capital were also participating in this funding round.

The technology investor Silver Lake contributed $500 million in the new funding round for less than a 5% stake, Klarna Chief Executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters.

“Klarna is one of the most disruptive and promising fintech companies in the world, redefining the ecommerce experience for millions of consumers and global retailers, just as ecommerce growth is accelerating worldwide and rapidly shifting to mobile,” said Jonathan Durham, managing director of Silver Lake Partners, in a release announcing the deal.

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As we reported last week, the funding is mostly needed for Klarna’s final breakthrough on the US market. This goal is becoming more and more costly as the profit of $10m in 2018 turned into a loss of $93m in 2019, mostly because Klarna’s huge marketing efforts in the United States.

Klarna app has more than 12 million monthly active users worldwide, with 55,000 daily downloads. Klarna recorded growth even during lockdown but had to adjust its credit scoring system.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna, said: “We are at a true inflection point in both retail and finance. The shift to online retail is now truly supercharged and there is a very tangible change in the behaviour of consumers who are now actively seeking services which offer convenience, flexibility and control in how they pay and an overall superior shopping experience. Klarna’s unique proposition, consumer preference and global retailer network will prove an excellent platform for further growth.”