Klarna reportedly eyeing $500m raise at $10bn valuation

Buy-now-pay-later fintech Klarna is reportedly looking to raise $500m at a $10bn valuation according to Reuters.

The Swedish fintech is looking to raise the cash, which will come from both new and existing investors, to help it continue its rapid global expansion, with a deal apparently set to be announced in the coming days. 

Sources close to the fintech told Reuters that the funding round could be the last for the fintech before it enters an Initial Public Offering (IPO), with the firm reportedly looking to begin talks with investment banks to help with its listing. 

Klarna became Europe’s highest valued fintech in 2019 after closing a $460m funding round at a $5.5bn valuation last year—only for Revolut and Checkout.com to catch up to the Swedish heavyweight several months later.  

The funding could be used to help the fintech out after it suffered a seven-fold increase in losses in the first half of 2020. 

During the first half of 2020, Klarna says it added more than 35,000 new retailers to its base of now over 200,000, along with 14m new consumers having used its service and an average of 1m transactions are processed through the platform every day. 

Klarna has 8.6m active users in the UK and a total of 85m across the world.