Klarna IPO - Swedish FinTech company

Klarna is last valued at $46b and the CEO has ruled out a spac in favor of a traditional IPO.

klonobank ab or commonly known as klarna is the highest valued private fintech in europe according to techcrunch.

The company has announced its intention to go public.

ceo Sebastian Siemiatkowski has ruled out a spac in favor of a traditional ipo or direct listing.

Founded in 2005, klarna bank ab is a swedish fintech company that provides payment solutions primarily for stores handling customer payments.

Klarna aims to make it easier for people to shop online by making payments as simple, secure and smooth as possible.

In a new funding round led by softbank on june 10th 2021 klarne was valued at 45.6 billion dollars.

The company now serves 147 million active consumers at more than 400 000 merchants in 45 countries.

Market size

The total value of buy now pay later (bnpl) commodities in the u.s will increase from 49.3 billion us dollars in 2021 to 443.8 billion usd.

The pandemic's impact and bnpl's overall rise in popularity will further lead the industry to rack up 680 billion dollars in transaction volume worldwide in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 13.23 from 285 billion dollars in 2018.

Market problem solved

buy now pay later solutions are one of the hottest trends in e-commerce. Under the current economy giving the option to pay in for later without having a credit card offers consumers more flexibility when purchasing items. Klarna allows people to buy and pay later while extending their credit without a credit card.

For bnpl solutions there used to just be one choice at the checkout. A couple of years ago, Klarna reinvented itself around their newest product Klarna checkout where they basically take over the entire transaction.

It offers direct payments pay after delivery options and installment plans products.

Klarna provides an e-commerce payment solutions platform for merchants and shoppers.

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Photo by Laura Chouette / Unsplash

For shoppers Klarna allows them to check out with the app at the local shopping mall or anywhere online.

It can split user purchases into four interest-free payments payable every two weeks.

It also allows users to use 30-day payments or flexible financing to seamlessly purchase large items for merchants.

It allows them to set payment options and provides traffic acquisition, upstream marketing payment processing, dispute resolutions and cross-selling services.

It claims to help businesses increase 70 percent of revenue and 25 percent of return on advertising spend.

Business model

Klarna is a financial platform that facilitates payments on behalf of other companies.

It partners up with other businesses mostly in the e-commerce space to offer their customers the option to pay for products after receiving the viet invoices.

All signs on green for e-commerce? No, just East Commerce Street in San Antonio.

Tip: there is also a E Commerce Street sign available with red lights (see my photo line).
Photo by Mark König / Unsplash

Klarna makes money via merchant fees, late payment fees, interest on consumer loans interchange fees as well as interest on cash.

Competitors

Here are top competitors for Klarna:

Afterpay is an australia-based company that was recently acquired by square a digital payment company co-founded by twitter ceo jack dorsey for 29 billion dollars.

Afterpay is best for people who mean a short-term financing auction with zero interest and don't want the loan to affect their credit score.

zip formerly known as quad pay is a bnpl service available internationally.

zip is a good choice for consumers who want to use a bnpl option wherever they shop and they don't want it to affect their credit score.

paypal's pay in four - paypal is a global financial technology system known for its online payment system it launched its own bnpl product known as pay in four which is a good option for people looking for a short-term financing option with zero interest and no late fees that aren't reported to the credit bureaus.

Photo by Marques Thomas @querysprout.com / Unsplash

Unique strength

1) An indispensable payment solution, Klarna provides good products customers can choose from three options including purchase now pay 30 days later and spread the cost across three monthly or four years payments

2) Credit checks are carried out quietly in the background as well as analysis of browsing history to determine eligibility.

3) Strategic expansion - Klarna has an impressive number of partners and the list is growing at a constant rate populated by over 130,000 partners globally including prominent names like zara, Nike and michael kors.

Photo by Paul Steuber / Unsplash

4) customer centricity - Klarna takes extra effort in maintaining and expanding its customer base. It understands its customers and creates experiences tailored to them.

Leadership

Sebastian Siemiatkowski is the co-founder and ceo of klarna. He founded the company with two friends in 2005 on the idea of making it easier for people to shop online. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from stockholm school of economics.

Financials

Klarna has made a record second quarter in 2021 with over 20 billion dollar gross merchandise volume compared to 12 billion dollars in q2.

The company saw growth in all key markets globally with a strong performance in the us with gross merchandise volume up 311 percent in the first half of 2021 driven by rising consumer adoption.

Klarna has raised a total of 3.7 billion dollars in funding over 34 rounds.

Photo by Markus Winkler / Unsplash

In a new funding round led by softbank on june 10 2021 klarna was valued at 45.6 billion usd.

Projection

The pandemic accelerated e-commerce market growth which in turn increased the demand for easy online financing options.

Buy now pay later solutions are continuing to grow in popularity as people seek alternative financing methods.

Klarna operates in 17 countries. The company has a successful track record in europe and recently started to make its mark in the u.s with 20 million customers using klarna's services. In the us the company has plans for growth.


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