Klarna Teams With Liberis To Offer Merchant Financing

Payments and shopping platform Klarna is collaborating with embedded business finance firm Liberis to offer merchants revenue-based loans and other financial services.

Rob Straathof, CEO of Liberis, said in a press release on Tuesday (June 29) that the company is “proud” Klarna chose its team to partner with as they work together to advance the “shared mission to support the growth of small businesses around the world.”

Klarna, which is among the most valuable private tech firms in Europe, offers buy now and pay later (BNPL) services to 250,000 merchants in 17 countries. With Liberis, Klarna will be able to offer merchant partners flexible, pre-approved loans based on revenue and actual transaction volume. 

Straathof added that the financing function for merchants will be seamlessly integrated into Klarna’s platform to assist businesses “through hard times and periods of growth.”

Earlier this month, Klarna’s valuation was pegged at an estimated $45.6 billion following $639 million in funding, led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. Founded in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, the company recently expanded its BNPL services in the U.K. to include non-partner merchants. It also recently expanded to the U.S., where it is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with additional offices in New York City, according to its website. Klarna Bank is considered a banking company under the supervision of Finansinspektionen, which is the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. 

Liberis announced in April that it was changing its business model and would stop extending loans directly to small and medium-sized businesses, and would instead partner with digital payments firms. 

The London-headquartered company raised $93 million in a December 2020 funding round led by BCI Europe, Paragon Bank and British Business Investments. The round also included financing and venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank. The company has so far raised approximately $267 million, including more than $67 million in equity funding.