Klarna valuation slashed again to $6.5bn, report suggests

The ‘buy now, pay later’ giant was valued at $45.6bn in 2021.

Just months after reports suggested Klarna was seeking a valuation between $50-60bn, the Swedish fintech is now looking to raise at around $6.5bn, according to reports.

Having been valued at $45.6bn in 2021, the ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) is now closing in on a funding round of around $650m, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

People familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal Klarna is negotiating to raise the money mostly from existing investors, led by Sequoia Capital.

Michael Mortiz, a partner at the venture capital firm, is also chairman of Klarna.

While the deal has yet to go through or be confirmed by the BNPL directly, the new valuation would be a huge reduction from last year, when it raised $639m in a round led by an arm of SoftBank.

It had already raised $1bn earlier in the year.

Since then the BNPL has had a number of reported valuation drops after it was reported to be eyeing a $50-60bn valuation alongside new funding in February.

In May, the company faced a c.30 per cent cut according to media reports, and just a few weeks ago, reports suggested a 67 per cent valuation hit.

Klarna has also found itself a part of the layoffs that have hit the fintech industry in recent months, with around ten per cent of staff being let go in May.