Chinese tech giant Alibaba furthers its European presence, confirming that its investment unit Ant Financial has taken a ‘minority stake’ in Swedish retail payments network Klarna.
Ant Financial has chosen not to disclose terms related to its investment but confirmed to media that its stake in Klarna would amount to less than 1% of company equity.
Klarna maintains a prior working relationship with the Chinese tech incumbent, as the Swedish payment platform utilises AliPay solutions to operate its ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ schemes.
Alibaba joins the high-profile ranks of investors such as VISA, H&M Sweden, Sequoia Capital and Bank of Australia backing Klarna to become the leading all-in-one payment solution for digital retailers.
Founded in 2005, Klarna is recognised as one of Europe’s ‘Fintech unicorns’, with its tailored retail payment platform offering online merchants the broadest range of options facilitating transactions, consumer purchase financing and in-store credit lines.
Closing 2019, Klarna’s executive team raised a further $460 million in venture funding, helping its payment platform expand beyond European shores.
To date, the Stockholm enterprise has raised $1.2 billion in venture capital, with its investors valuing the asset at $5.5 billion
“Alipay, and the wider Alibaba Group, have truly set the global pace on retail innovation and the app economy. We are delighted in this confidence shown in Klarna to define the future of payments and shopping and are very much looking forward to working together further in the future,” commented Sebastian Siemiątkowski, CEO, Klarna on the transaction note
