Klarna, a platform that allows users to buy products and pay for them over time, just came out of a funding round that put it at $5.5 billion in value. This puts it as the top private fintech firm in all of Europe, and one of the biggest ones on the entire planet.
Based in Sweden, Klarna was brought to life in 2005, and has around $460 million in funding, which the company will use to bring itself into the United States market, reports Altfi.
According to the publication, Klarna serves around 130,000 merchants across the globe, with Ikea, Adidas, and Zara being its top customers. From there, it has 50 million customers using the platform via these clients and keeps hired around 2,500 employees. That and the company hopes to hit $1 billion in annual sales this year.
Dragoneer led the funding round, an investment group from San Francisco that helped fund Spotify, Airbnb, and Uber, for starters.
HMI Capital, Merian Chrysalis Investment, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia helped invest as well.
The reason it wants to expand more into the United States market is that Klarna already has some top clients in the space. Asos, rue21, Lulus, Toms, and Sonos mark some of the company’s 3,000 US clients.
Related: Check out our list of the best budgeting apps on the market.
Klarna offers something called a Pay in 4 service. What this does it allow buyers to buy products in four payments with no interest, fees, or anything else. According to the company, customers spend around 68 percent more than average buyers at retailers without Klarna.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of the company, commented on the matter:
“This is a decisive time in the history of retail banking. Finally, transparency, technology and creativity will serve the consumer, and there will be no more room for unimaginative products, non-transparent terms of use or lack of genuine care of one’s customers.”
