Klarna, a Swedish fintech company, which serves as an e-commerce payment solutions platform for merchants and shoppers, has pocketed $650 million in a new funding round, to further speed up its global expansion.

Technology investor Silver Lake led the funding round which has almost doubled the valuation of the fully licensed Swedish bank to $10.65 billion. In August 2019, Klarna secured $460 million in a financing round at a valuation of $5.5 billion.

Silver Lake’s Co-CEO and Managing Partner Egon Durban and Managing Director Jonathan Durham said: “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.

“Klarna’s retail partners benefit from incremental traffic and dramatically improved customer conversion. Consumers love Klarna for its differentiated app-based shopping experience and for their flexible and transparent payment options.”

GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore and funds and accounts managed by HMI Capital and BlackRock participated in the latest funding round of Klarna.

Concurrently, the fintech company announced that Merian Chrysalis, Bonnier, Northzone, and TCV acquired stakes in it from existing shareholders.

Klarna’s existing investors prior to the new funding round and the transaction include Sequoia Capital, Bestseller Group, Dragoneer, Permira, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Ant Financial Services Group.

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. The Klarna team is honoured to welcome such world class investors to support our mission to become the world’s favourite way to shop.”

The proceeds from the latest investment round will be used by the Swedish fintech company to enhance its shopping offering, grow its global presence, and expedite its momentum across all its operating markets. In particular, Klarna will focus on further growth in the US where it currently claims to have more than nine million consumers.

Klarna claims to provide a simpler and smarter alternative to credit cards and a wide variety of services to facilitate a superior shopping journey. The Swedish fintech company, which was established in 2005, is said to cater to more than 90 million consumers across the world.

  BlackRock, Egon Durban, Fintech industry news, GIC, HMI Capital, Jonathan Durham, Klarna, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Silver Lake, Sweden