Klarna Valued at $31 Billion After U.S. Growth Stoked Investors
- Swedish firm raised $1 billion in new funding from investors
- Klarna to donate 1% of new funds to climate change initiatives
Klarna Bank AB said it raised $1 billion at a valuation of $31 billion, triple the price investors gave the Swedish payments firm during its last funding round, following rapid growth in its U.S. business.
Europe’s most valuable startup initially set out to raise $500 million. Klarna Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Siemiatkowski said high investor demand led to this doubling, but could have gone as high as $3 billion. It had been valued at $10.65 billion as recently as September.
“What definitely has accelerated and changed is the success in the U.S. market,” Siemiatkowski said in an interview. Investors are seeing Klarna getting ahead of its competitors, he said. “I think that has changed the perspective and changed the view on our valuation.”