The Swedish fintech Klarna was just Europe’s most valuable startup, with a valuation of $46 billion. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski is hoping for fresh capital for a valuation of just $6.5 billion. Not long ago, the “buy-now-pay-later” pioneer received money at a valuation of $46 billion.
Led by existing investors, the payment service is likely to receive more than $600 million in fresh capital. Among them are Californian venture capitalists Sequoia Capital, whose partner Michael Moritz (67) is also chairman of Klarna’s supervisory board, and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. The deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is said to be close to completion.
The valuation of two of Klarna‘s US competitors, Affirm and Zip, are also down more than 80%. Allegedly, Klarna tried to negotiate a $50 billion valuation, reduced to around $30 billion, and then to $15 billion, before ending at $6.5 billion.
Klarna is only the most prominent showcase of the ongoing Fintech crisis. The collapsed valuation, down more than 80%, perfectly illustrates the new post-easy-money era and its difficulties for startups to raise fresh capital. In Silicon Valley, investors and startup teams are now bracing themselves for a very tough few years – and the German tech world is also worried about a new ice age. Financing is likely to become difficult or impossible for many companies. And if so, then on significantly worse terms.
