Created in 2005 in Stockholm by Sebastian Siemiatkowski,, Niklas Adalberth And Victor JacobssonKlarna has established itself as the world leader in split payment “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL). Obtaining a banking license in Sweden in 2017 has paved the way for a strategic transformation aimed at building a Super-app Retaila platform that starts from shopping to go to the bank. The idea is to capture the user at the time of purchase, then support him with services with higher added value: payment cards, savings, international transfers, and soon trading or mobile telephony.
The American bet and the Battle of Super-Apps
Klarna now claims 111 million active users And 790,000 partner merchants in 26 countries. Its raw volume of transactions has reached $ 112 billion Over the past twelve months to June 30, 2025 (≈ 103 billion euros). Its annual income exceeds 1.8 billion euros, around 75 % of which come from merchants. The American market has become its main growth engine, with strategic partnerships with Walmart, Airbnb, Uber and Doordash. This retail-first positioning distinguishes it from banking super-apps like Revolut, which starts from the current account to go to lifestyle. Klarna relies on the power of e-commerce to enter finance.
An IPO to credibility the transfer
After a record recovery of $ 45.6 billion in 2021fell at 6.7 billion in 2022Klarna has reduced its workforce by 10 %, tightened its credit scoring and brought back its default rate 0.88 % (against up to 5 % for US cards), finding profitability. She lifted more than 4 billion euros with Sequoia Capital, SoftBank Group, Silver Lake And General Atlantic.
Klarna has just officially launched her IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker Klar)with an offer of 34.3 million shares (including only 5.5 million new). The price indicative range is between 35 and 37 dollars by action, valuing the group between 15 and 17 billion dollars (≈ 14 to 16 billion euros). The operation should raise approximately 180 to 190 million euros In primary to Klarna, while the majority of titles will come from historical shareholders, who thus obtain partial liquidity.
Post-Opo risks and potential
The risks remain, dependence on large partners for customer acquisition, frontal competition with e-commerce giants (Amazon, Apple Pay Later) and neobancs, exposure to the macroeconomic cycle.
Post-Opo potential is based on Klarna’s ability to reach 10 million cards in circulation within a yearwhile integrating new financial and non -financial services. The strategic challenge is to combine the Acquisition force of an e-commerce platform With the functional depth of a complete digital bankand to position yourself as a credible global actor in the face of the American fintechs listed as an assertion or the Asian super-apps.
