# Klarna Bank AB Klarna Bank AB is an other based in Stockholm, Sweden. ## Overview - **Organization type:** other - **Headquarters:** Stockholm, Sweden - **Region:** Europe - **Address:** Stockholm, Sweden - **Founded:** 2005 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** klarna.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/klarna ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Klarna Bank AB was founded in Stockholm by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson in 2005 after they won a school competition with their payment solution. Siemiatkowski has remained CEO throughout, raising over $3.7B in equity from investors including Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer, and SoftBank. The firm transitioned from a payment gateway to a direct consumer lender. Klarna's strategy blends underwriting consumer credit for point-of-sale purchases, operating its own payment processing infrastructure, and using AI/ML to manage risk across 45 markets. The firm derives revenue from merchant transaction fees (2-3% per purchase) and interest on installment loans. Its balance sheet provides the credit for most BNPL originations, though it also partners with banks for some regions and holds a full Swedish banking license. The merchant network spans over 250,000 retailers, including H&M, Nike, and Sephora. The company's valuation peaked at $45.6B in June 2021 during a SoftBank-led round but fell to $6.7B by mid-2022 during tech repricing (per Bloomberg, 2022). Klarna employs over 3,000 people across offices in Stockholm, San Francisco, New York, London, and Berlin. In 2023, the firm reported its first monthly profit since 2019 and later announced a $10B valuation raise in 2024 from Sequoia and others (per the firm's official communication, 2024). Klarna's structure as a regulated bank distinguishes it from unregulated BNPL peers. Holding a Swedish banking license allows it to originate credit directly and potentially offer deposit accounts—a regulatory moat that limits competition and changes its risk profile relative to US-focused lenders like Affirm or Afterpay. ## Sectors - FinTech - AI/ML - Private Credit ## Offices - San Francisco, United States - New York, United States ## People - Sebastian Siemiatkowski — Co-founder & CEO - Niklas Adalberth — Co-founder ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at Klarna? Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO, leads strategic direction. The firm's treasury and credit operations are managed in-house given its banking license. Key investors like Sequoia Capital hold board seats. ### How does Klarna source proprietary deal flow? Klarna originates merchant partnerships and consumer credit applications through its own platform, not through external intermediaries. Its 250,000-merchant network provides direct data to underwrite credit. ### What investment stages does Klarna typically target? As a lending platform, Klarna targets consumer credit origination at the point of sale, not equity stages. It does not make venture or growth equity investments. ### Which sectors does Klarna explicitly avoid? Klarna focuses on consumer e-commerce BNPL and payment processing, avoiding sectors like B2B SaaS, real estate, or infrastructure within its core business. ### How is Klarna related to its parent or other financial entities? Klarna Bank AB is the parent entity, operating with a Swedish banking license. It has no publicly disclosed relationship with family office structures or external asset managers. ### What is Klarna's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs? There is no public evidence that Klarna engages in co-investments with external GPs. Its capital is deployed primarily through its lending platform. ## Related profiles - [Labor Source](https://altss.com/profile/labor-source) - [The H & M Group](https://altss.com/profile/the-h-and-m-group) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/klarna-bank-ab Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology