Explore ways to buy Klarna stock as the Klarna IPO approaches. Get access to select pre-IPO startups at Equitybee.
Table of Contents
Klarna Stock and IPO Recent News
08/31/2023: Klarna ready for IPO when conditions improve
07/11/2022: Klarna closes major financing round
06/10/2021: Fintech giant Klarna raises $639M at a $45.6B
08/03/2019: Klarna announces $460M equity raise
03/04/2020: Ant Financial buys a stake in Klarna
12/09/2011: Klarna Raises $155M from DST And General Atlantic
What is Klarna?
Klarna is a Swedish fintech and e-commerce company. The company provides consumers with a comparison shopping platform and flexible payment options commonly called a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service.
Consumers shop wherever they choose, whether online, on mobile devices, or in shopping malls, then use the Klarna app to checkout.
Once a purchase is in the app, users have multiple no-fee flexible short-term payment options and longer-term options with financing rates ranging from 0%-29.99%. Klarna also offers browser extensions for online shopping and a credit card for everyday purchases.
Klarna means “clear” or “clarity” in Swedish.
Just as we’ve seen companies such as Stripe and Block (Square) modernize payments for vendors, Klarna and competitors such as Affirm are modernizing the payment experience to give consumers more financial choices.
The big credit card companies are noticing. The Chase My Chase Plan and American Express Pay Over Time are direct responses to the popularity of BNPL apps.
Klarna was founded in 2005 in Stockholm but didn’t launch in the United States until 2015. It has since accepted private investments from multiple U.S.-based venture capital firms.
Is Klarna Publicly Traded?
No. Klarna is a private company.
Investors may find opportunities to own the company on pre-IPO marketplaces but not on a public exchange.
Klarna Bank AB (legal name) is a private limited liability company.
AB stands for “Aktiebolag,” which means limited company or corporation.
Who Owns Klarna?
Klarna is a venture-backed technology startup. Its investors include the founders, employees, and global venture capital firms.
The company has conducted multiple equity raises since 2005, raising more than $4 billion.
The latest funding round completed in July 2022 raised $800 million, at an 85% discount from its peak valuation.
Klarna has welcomed significant venture capital funding firms such as Investment AB Öresund, Sequoia, SoftBank, Bestseller, Silver Lake, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Honeycomb Asset Management, WestCap, Adit Ventures, Dragoneer, Ant Group, General Atlantic, DST Global, HMI Capital, Mubadala Investment Company, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Klarna Valuation
The latest confirmed Klarna valuation is $6.7 billion, established when the company raised $800 million from investors in July 2022.
The Klarna valuation peaked 13 months earlier when it raised $639 million at a $45.6 billion valuation. SoftBank’s Vision Fund led the disastrous round.
2021 was an exuberant year for IPOs and private fundraising. 2022 was quite the opposite.
What is the Klarna Stock Symbol? Klarna Ticker?
Klarna is still a private company, so there is no Klarna stock symbol.
If the company decides to go public in the U.S., here are a few available Klarna ticker suggestions.
- KLAR
- KLNA
- KLRN
- KRNA
- KNA
What is the Klarna Stock Price?
There is no Klarna stock price yet.
When is the Klarna IPO Date?
The Klarna IPO date or timeframe is not established. The company has said it does not need to raise money and is making a profit.
With IPO market conditions improving in 2023, as evidenced by the Cava IPO and upcoming deals in the pipeline, Klarna may be taking some initial steps toward a public offering — though it may seek to establish a higher private valuation first.
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told the Financial Times in August 2023:
From an IPO perspective, the requirements have been met. So now, it’s more market conditions. It’s more a question of us getting ready and prepare the organization. We don’t have any official date; we haven’t announced anything. I’ve never seen this level of depression around fintech . . . as a fintech, this may not be the ideal moment to raise money right now.
His comments may be alluding to public rivals Affirm and Adyen, which have experienced stock price declines.
In September 2021, he had this to say to CNBC regarding an IPO:
The volatility in the market right now makes me nervous to IPO, to be honest. I think it would be nice to IPO when it’s a little bit more sound. And right now, it doesn’t feel really sound out there.
We’ll update this web page when we learn more about the Klarna IPO date and related news.
Klarna Valuation
The current Klarna valuation is estimated to be about 11 billion Euros. Talks of a potential IPO have floated a target Klarna valuation of $20 billion. The company was reported to be hiring investment banks for an IPO.
Will Klarna’s IPO Take Place in Europe or the U.S.?
One of Europe’s biggest IPOs over the past few years didn’t happen in Europe.
Spotify, a Swedish music streaming company, chose to launch its IPO in the U.S. on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The European think tank, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), suggests that Spotify chose the U.S. over Europe for its direct listing IPO due to complicated E.U. listing rules, the lack of a single securities authority, and demanding prospectus translation requirements.
If Klarna continues its growth trajectory, access to robust capital markets will be crucial to fund additional expansion.
When Klarna conducts its IPO, the company will consider the listing requirements of both pan-European exchanges, such as the Nasdaq Nordic, Euronext, and Deutsche Börse, under E.U. regulation.
Switzerland’s Climeworks may face a similar decision, as will another prominent Swedish startup, Northvolt. The U.K.’s largest fintech, Revolut, has already stated it would IPO in the U.S.
U.S. exchanges may provide a more streamlined route to the IPO listing. U.S retail investor appetite for fintech startups and growth investments is powerful. Plus, Klarna boasts at least 37 million customers in the U.S.
If Klarna chooses a European exchange, U.S.-based investors could still own shares through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).
How to Invest in Klarna Stock
Since Klarna is not a public company, it is challenging to become an equity owner today.
However, you can take action to improve your chances of early equity ownership or to acquire shares in the IPO.
Otherwise, you’ll need to be patient for shares to begin trading after the IPO.
1. Acquire Klarna stock on Pre-IPO investing platforms
The author has not yet seen evidence of Klarna being available on pre-IPO platforms. Shares may become available if early investors or employees want to cash out before the IPO. This may become more likely if the company raises a fresh round of private equity capital.
Investors can monitor pre-IPO investing platforms for future availability.
If shares become available, expect to pay at least a $10,000 investment minimum. It’s free to sign up for access and alerts.
A few platforms have evolved to allow these individuals to liquidate their holdings before the IPO.
Equitybee provides accredited investors access to pre-IPO startups by funding employee stock options. In exchange, investors gain a portion of the future stock value.
Other prominent pre-IPO investing platforms include Linqto, EquityZen, and Forge Global.
Non-accredited retail can sidestep the accreditation requirement by owning a venture capital fund like the Fundrise Innovation Fund.
Investors cannot choose individual companies, and Klarna is currently not a holding. However, the Fund is the most accessible way for investors to access pre-IPO companies.
Check out our list of top pre-IPO investing platforms for current share availability. Also, look for European pre-IPO platforms that may be selling pre-IPO shares.
2. Buy during the Klarna stock IPO through a participating broker
Retail IPO investors may discover opportunities to invest during the IPO — acquiring shares at the IPO price the night before the company begins trading.
IPO access has become more attainable to retail investors in the past few years.
Online brokers such as the ones listed below give customers free access to IPOs with low minimum investments.
TradeStation and Webull have longer track records of accessing more than 360 IPOs and secondary offerings via their partnership with ClickIPO.
SoFi Invest and Robinhood have the advantage of Silicon Valley networks and a history of getting allocations for high-profile IPOs.
Check out this list of best brokers for IPO investing to learn more about IPO access for retail investors.
3. Buy Klarna stock after the Klarna IPO
Truly disruptive companies will be higher one decade from their IPOs. Patience pays.
Waiting for the IPO can be frustrating when you want to own a private company. But there are advantages to waiting for the stock to IPO before owning it.
The quarters after the IPO allow investors to review multiple financial statements. Pre-IPO investing has limited financials available.
IPO stock prices typically rise with high-demand companies. You can benefit if you’re in early and sell when the price overheats.
But many investors don’t get access and miss out. Chasing inflated prices after an IPO is risky.
The stock price declines after the IPOs can be excellent entry points.
Avoid buying overvalued shares immediately after the IPO. Shares often fall after the IPO due to lockup expirations and quarterly earnings disappointments.
Where can I find the Klarna IPO F-1 Filing?
Klarna has not yet submitted an F-1 filing to the SEC. When the company does, we’ll share it here.
An F-1 filing is very similar to the Form S-1 but for foreign entities.
In the meantime, you can check out the most recent S-1 filings in our S-1 filings feed (includes S-1, F-1, and amended filings).
Conclusion
Investors get excited when they identify companies riding extraordinary macroeconomic trends (fintech, mobile-first apps, payments).
However, buying private companies before the IPO can often prove difficult for retail investors, even wealthy ones.
Though pre-IPO investing platforms have opened more opportunities, venture capital investing is mostly reserved for the ultra-wealthy, requiring millions to invest in seed and early funding rounds for disruptive companies.
If you aim to pursue pre-IPO or IPO shares in a company like Klarna, maintain reasonable expectations — you may struggle to acquire ownership until after the IPO.
If Klarna stock is on your radar, good luck. Invest in pre-IPO and IPO companies with caution.
* Disclosure: The web page contains affiliate links from our partners. If a reader opens an account or buys a service from a link in this article, we may be compensated at no additional cost to the reader. Opening an account with a broker that provides access to IPOs does not guarantee the customer allocations of specific IPOs. The author is long the Fundrise Innovation Fund.
Leave a Reply