Klarna is leading the generational shift away from credit cards. The Swedish company specializes in making buy now, pay later (BNPL) consumer loans. It has also been an early leader in using artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate its mission of revolutionizing the consumer-facing banking sector.
The company has quickly built out a global payment network and shopping assistant. It launched in 2005 and has grown to support 93 million active customers and more than 675,000 merchants across 26 countries. Its platform handles 2.9 million transactions per day. Klarna's strategy has drawn some of the biggest venture capital and financial firms to become early investors in its financial technology platform.
These factors have made Klarna a widely anticipated initial public offering (IPO). Here's a guide to everything you need to know about how to invest in Klarna ahead of its eventual initial public offering (IPO).
Is it publicly traded?
Is Klarna publicly traded?
Klarna wasn't a publicly traded company as of early 2025. The financial technology company is privately held and has the backing of some of the biggest names in venture capital and finance, including Sequoia, Silver Lake, and Visa (V 0.9%).
IPO
When it will IPO
When will Klarna IPO?
Klarna had been working to put its IPO on the calendar in early 2025. However, the company paused its IPO plans following President Donald Trump's decision to levy sweeping tariffs, which caused significant market volatility. The company said it would reassess its plans if market conditions stabilize.
How to invest
How to buy Klarna stock
Because Klarna still hasn't completed an IPO, investors can't buy shares of the financial technology company in their brokerage account.
However, accredited investors (i.e., high-net-worth individuals or those with high incomes) can sometimes buy pre-IPO shares of companies like Klarna on secondary platforms such as Equity Bee or Forge Global. Accredited investors who really want to get in ahead of its IPO should check out those platforms to see if they have shares of Klarna available to buy.
Non-accredited investors will need to continue waiting until the company launches its IPO. In the meantime, those interested in the financial technology trend could invest in one of Klarna's publicly traded competitors. Here are three options to consider:
1. Affirm Holdings
Affirm Holdings (AFRM 1.93%) is a buy now, pay later (BNPL) leader. The company sets itself apart from competitors like Klarna by not charging customers any fees, including late fees. It has two flexible repayment options: Pay in four (consumers make four interest-free payments every two weeks) and monthly payment plans (that do charge interest). Affirm had 21 million active customers in early 2025 and processed more than $31 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) on its platform over the past year.
2. Block
Block (XYZ 1.22%), formerly Square, is a global financial technology company. It offers businesses several building blocks to help them grow, including Square and Cash App. Block accelerated its BNPL business in 2022 when it acquired Afterpay for $29 billion, which it integrated into Square and Cash App. The company's BNPL platform grew 19% in 2024 to $10.3 billion in GMV.
3. PayPal Holdings
PayPal (PYPL 0.26%) is a leading digital payments company. It has a diversified portfolio of financial technology tools and brands, including Honey, Venmo, and its namesake platform. The company launched its BNPL service in 2020. It also offers a pay-in-four option and monthly installment plans, giving consumers purchase flexibility.
People who want to buy one of these Klarna competitors can purchase shares in any brokerage account. Here's a step-by-step guide to investing in these financial technology stocks.
- Open your brokerage app: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
- Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
- Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
- Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
- Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
- Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Investors would follow a similar process to buy an IPO stock like Klarna when it goes public. Once shares become available, select Klarna's chosen stock ticker to buy shares through your brokerage account.
Profitability
Is Klarna profitable?
Even though Klarna is a private company, it publicly reports some of its financial results. The company gave investors a glimpse at its results as it prepared to go public in early 2025.
Klarna reported $2.8 billion of revenue in 2024, a 24% increase from the prior year. Meanwhile, the company turned the corner on profitability, posting $21 million in net income. That was a significant improvement from the $244 million loss it reported in 2023 on $2.3 billion of revenue.
In addition to revenue growth, a driver of the company's improved profitability was a reduction in its headcount. Klarna is leveraging the power of AI to focus its remaining employees on what really matters in driving its mission.
Reaching profitability is important for Klarna. Companies that grow their earnings tend to create the most value for investors over the long term.
Should you invest?
Should I invest in Klarna?
Klarna isn't public yet. However, it's gearing up for an IPO, which could happen in the coming year. That gives investors some time to research the company before buying shares.
Research is an important step that investors won't want to skip. It could increase your conviction that the stock is worth buying. However, you also might uncover something in your research that changes your mind about buying the stock.
With that in mind, here are some reasons why you might want to buy shares of Klarna when it goes public:
- You're a fan of the company and use its services.
- You think it can disrupt the credit card and financial services industries.
- You think Klarna can continue growing its revenue briskly and eventually start producing sustainable profits.
- You believe Klarna can keep its competitors at bay.
- You prefer to invest in founder-led companies.
- You're excited that Klarna is embracing artificial intelligence to enhance its products.
- You think the company trades at a much more enticing valuation following a big decline in its private market value between its last two funding rounds.
On the other hand, here are some reasons why Klarna might not be the right choice for your portfolio:
- You don't use BNPL products.
- You prefer one of Klarna's competitors.
- You're concerned about there being too much competition in the BNPL space.
- You're worried that a recession could significantly affect Klarna's growth and profitability.
- You're not sure Klarna can become consistently profitable.
ETFs
ETFs with exposure to Klarna
Since Klarna is still a privately held company, investors can't gain passive exposure to its stock by investing in an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
However, those interested in investing in the financial technology sector can consider an ETF focused on that theme. Here are a couple of financial technology-focused ETFs to consider:
- ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF 0.61%): This ETF is actively managed (by the well-known Cathie Wood) and focused on the financial technology innovation theme. It generally holds 35 to 55 companies. Block was one of its largest holdings in early 2025, at 4.5% of the fund's total. The fund had a 0.75% ETF expense ratio.
- GlobalX FinTech ETF (NYSEMKT:FINX): The passively managed fund focuses on companies in the emerging financial technology sector. The fund had 63 holdings as of early 2025, including PayPal at 6.1% of the fund's total assets and Block (4.5%). It had a total expense ratio of 0.68%.
Related investing topics
The bottom line
The bottom line on Klarna
Klarna aims to revolutionize the retail banking sector. It offers customers BNPL options as an alternative to credit cards and is an early adopter of AI to improve its offerings. It's growing fast and is on the cusp of sustainable profitability. These features make it one of the most anticipated upcoming IPOs. Its continued growth could send its shares soaring after it goes public.
FAQs
Investing in Klarna FAQs
What is the stock symbol for Klarna?
Klarna was still a privately held company as of early 2025, so it didn't trade on major stock exchanges or have a stock ticker symbol yet. However, the company had filed to go public in early 2025 under the stock ticker KLAR, though its IPO was on pause due to tariff-related market volatility.
Should you invest in Klarna?
Klarna has a lot of attractive investment characteristics. The founder-led company is growing fast and disrupting the traditional banking industry. It's also getting close to reaching sustained profitability. Meanwhile, its valuation has decreased significantly from its lofty peak in 2021. If these factors still hold true when Klarna goes public, it might be a stock that investors should consider buying.
Is Klarna private or public?
Klarna was still a privately held company as of early 2025. Although it's ready to go public (it filed for an IPO in 2025), the company had paused its IPO due to market volatility related to tariffs. It's currently waiting for market conditions to improve before moving forward with an IPO.
What is the value of Klarna?
Klarna last raised money from investors in July 2022. It brought in $800 million of new financing at a $6.7 billion post-money value. That was significantly less than its June 2021 valuation of $45.6 billion.
The company was seeking to go public in early 2025, aiming to raise $1 billion via an IPO. That would have put Klarna's value at roughly $15 billion. However, it paused plans to go public due to market volatility, suggesting it didn't think it could achieve that valuation.
