Klarna kickstarts U.S. IPO plans with confidential SEC filing

In Brief

Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup Klarna is on its way to becoming a public company. The fintech said on Wednesday that it has confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The announcement of the listing, a long time in the making, arrives amid a dearth of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the technology sector. Klarna’s European status only adds more fervor to today’s news.

Founded in 2005, Klarna is one of several players in the BNPL space that enable customers to purchase goods with the promise of interest-free credit. After launching in the U.S. in 2015, Klarna hit a hefty valuation of more than $45 billion by 2021, a figure that swiftly plummeted by 85% to $6.5 billion due to market “corrections”.

However, Klarna’s valuation recently rose to $14.6 billion, according to reports, after one investor increased its stake.

We still don’t know how many shares will be offered, or the price range of the IPO, but today’s announcement paves the way for Klarna to go public likely some time in the first half of 2025.

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