Buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Klarna has raised $800 million in a new financing round at a $6.7 billion valuation.
Klarna raises $800m at $6.7bn valuation
The new valuation is down almost $39 billion from last year, when the company was valued at $45.6 billion following a $639 million funding round led by Japanese firm SoftBank.
The news comes amid a global market downturn, and the company says it “has not been immune to the significant downdrafts of fintech stock in public markets”.
In May, the company let go of approximately 10% of its global workforce due to ongoing challenging global economic conditions.
Klarna says: “The fresh investment in Klarna occurred during possibly the worst set of circumstances to afflict stock markets since World War II: high inflation, rising interest rates, mounting fears of a recession, the after effects of the first global pandemic since 1918, strains on commerce caused by supply chain disruptions, rising gas prices, and, especially in Europe, the dislocations caused by the war in Ukraine.”
Despite this, the company has raised funds from existing investors including Sequoia, Bestseller, Silver Lake and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, as well as new investors Mubadala Investment Company, the sovereign fund of the UAE, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The company also points out that despite the drop in valuation, it is still 3x higher than back in 2018, “outperforming Klarna’s public peers for the same time period”.
It adds: “The company’s peers are down 80-90% vs peak valuations and consequently the adjustment in Klarna’s valuation is on par with its public peers from its $45.6bn valuation in June 2021.”
