Swedish Klarna became Europe most valuable private FinTech unicorn in 2019 and has kept on growing since.
With its $460m mega-equity round in August, Klarna reached a valuation of $5.5bn, making it arguably Europe most valuable FinTech unicorn. Although, UK challenger bank Revolut might make a move for the title after closing its $500m Series D round in February and hitting a $5.5bn valuation in the process.
The buy now, pay later tech company has revealed that it grew its global volumes and revenue increased by 32% and 31% respectively in the last year. At the same time, the volumes processed now amounts to over $35bn.
Globally, Klarna partners with over 200,000 merchants, adding 75,000 during 2019, and has been used by over 85 million customers and processes over one million transactions a day on the platform. More than 11 million customers use the Klara app on a monthly basis globally, with an average of 37,000 new app downloads every day.
Having recently launched in Australia in January with the backing of Commonwealth Bank, Klarna is now live across 17 markets across the globe. In total, the business has more than 2,700 employees around the world.
?Our partnership with Klarna will further enhance the customer experience in our leading banking app and address the rapidly growing demand among consumers for new payment options,Matt Comyn, CEO of Commonwealth Bank, said at the time.
Klarna strengthened its underwriting capabilities in February by acquiring Moneymour, the Italian payment company.
Looking at the UK, Klarna now has seven million customers on the British Isles, double what it had a year ago. Over the past 12 months, a new Klarna order was made every 1.3 seconds and over 1.6 million UK customers have downloaded the Klarna app to date. In the last 6 months of 2019, an average of over 88,000 new UK customers a week chose Klarna Pay later services at checkout.
?These landmark numbers are testament to the enduring growth we have achieved, by offering customers newfound financial flexibility, enabling shoppers to get what they love, as well as remaining dedicated to our merchant partners across the country,Luke Griffiths, general Mmanager at Klarna UK. ?The UK statistics are reflective of our global growth story, as we continue to pursue our mission to make shopping simple, safe and smooth, for both consumers and retailers.p>
The rise of Klarna highlights how the Swedish FinTech ecosystem is rapidly going from strength to strength.
Swedish FinTech companies attracted 78% of the roughly $3.3bn raised by FinTech?ventures in the Nordics between 2015 and 2019, according to FinTech Global’s data. Unsurprisingly, Klarna was behind many of the bigger deals made in the region during that time.
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