Klarna

Global leader in BNPL payments and a growing retail media and shopping discovery platform for e-commerce brands

Klarna is a Swedish fintech company founded in 2005 that pioneered the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) payment model, allowing consumers to split purchases into installments or pay later with no interest. It serves over 150 million active consumers and more than 500,000 merchants globally, making it one of the most widely used alternative payment platforms in the world. Klarna's core revenue comes from merchant fees charged for payment processing, but the company has evolved well beyond payments into a broader commerce and shopping platform. Klarna's marketing and media relevance is significant: it operates a consumer-facing shopping app and browser extension that functions as a discovery and comparison platform, giving it a direct advertising and affiliate channel to high-intent shoppers. Retailers and brands pay Klarna for sponsored placements, affiliate-driven traffic, and promotional visibility within its app and ecosystem — making Klarna a meaningful retail media and performance marketing partner for e-commerce brands. Its 'Klarna Ads' and 'Deals' features allow merchants to reach consumers at the point of purchase intent. Klarna has raised billions in venture funding and was valued at $45.6 billion at its peak in 2021, though a down round in 2022 valued it at $6.7 billion. The company has since rebounded and filed for a US IPO in 2024. It competes with Afterpay (Block), Affirm, PayPal Pay Later, and Sezzle in the BNPL space, while also competing with retail media networks and affiliate platforms for merchant marketing budgets.