"Klarna's time has finally come. After postponing its plans to go public earlier this year, Swedish fintech company Klarna will IPO on Wednesday. The company-known for its buy now, pay later services-along with some of its existing shareholders will offer more than 34 million shares, priced at $40 a piece. That could give it an overall value of around $15 billion."
"That includes Mattias Ljungman, cofounder and Managing Partner at Moonfire, who was one of the earlier investors in Klarna. In 2012, Ljungman was a cofounder and partner at Atomico, which has grown into one of Europe's largest venture funds, and led the company's investment in Klarna during its Series E funding round-which pushed its valuation over $1 billion and into unicorn territory for the first time."
""The main thing was the founders. They had some really exciting people with the capability to drive transformative change in the market. Sebastian [Siemiatkowski, Klarna's cofounder and CEO] had it in spades-he's relentless, tenacious, passionate, and he was fixated on his vision," Ljungman says. "That's what was really remarkable, the ability to have that kind of focus." He adds that the company's other cofounders, Niklas Adalberth and Victor Jacobsson, shared those traits as well, adding that they were and remain "great people and great operators.""
Klarna will IPO by offering more than 34 million shares at $40 each, implying an approximate $15 billion valuation. The planned public listing follows a prior postponement earlier in the year. The valuation represents a decline from a $46 billion peak reached during the pandemic-driven buy now, pay later boom. Investors anticipate the stock beginning to trade two decades after the company was founded. Early investor Mattias Ljungman participated via Atomico's Series E in 2012, which helped push Klarna past $1 billion and into unicorn status. Founders are credited with strong focus, relentlessness, and operational capability.
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