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Klarna becomes Europe’s biggest fintech unicorn at over $10 billion valuation after mega-round

CNBC

Klarna is now officially Europe’s highest valued private fintech company.

The Swedish online payments firm says it has raised $650 million in an equity funding round, valuing the company at $10.6 billion. The round was led by Silver Lake Partners, alongside GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, as well as BlackRock and HMI Capital.

“Klarna is one of the most disruptive and promising fintech companies in the world, redefining the ecommerce experience for millions of consumers and global retailers, just as ecommerce growth is accelerating worldwide and rapidly shifting to mobile,” said Jonathan Durham, managing director of Silver Lake Partners, in a release announcing the deal.

A regulated bank, Klarna is mostly known for its “buy now, pay later” model that offers shoppers interest-free financing on retail purchases over a period of installments. Klarna pays a merchant once a customer buys something using its platform, while users are later invoiced over a number of installments. Its regional competitors include British banking app Revolut and payments software maker Checkout.com.

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