Swedish fintech firm and one of the two largest buy-now, pay-later providers globally, alongside Affirm. Co-founded by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who remains boss. Klarna has been a bank in Europe since 2017.
Siemiatkowski had boasted about using AI to automate customer service but subsequently did an about-turn, saying "there will always be a human if you want". He says he wants the company to become a digital financial assistant enabled by artificial intelligence.
Klarna intends to float in America rather than in Europe. It is one of several European fintech firms, alongside Wise and Revolut, that have chosen New York over London for their listing.
Klarna's services have been integrated into Apple's and Google's digital wallets, and deals with firms such as Adyen, JPMorgan Payments and Stripe mean its services are now provided to millions of merchants. Elliott Advisors, a British affiliate of a mammoth hedge fund, purchased Klarna's $39bn British loan portfolio.
Former Klarna staff have created more than 60 startups, according to Dealroom and Accel, a VC fund.
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