Ant Financial, the financial affiliate of Alibaba, has taken a minority stake in Klarna as the companies deepen their partnership. The stake represents less than 1% ownership in Klarna, a spokesman told CNBC.
The deal will deepen the companies’ collaboration, allowing more Klarna solutions into the Alibaba ecosystem. The current partnership lets AliExpress shoppers in multiple markets use Klarna’s “Pay later” solution.
Klarna’s overall 2019 performance was a mixed bag: the solution provider added 75,000 new retailers to its platform and saw its number of app downloads increase 33X since May, but reported negative revenue of $116 million — the first annual loss since its 2005 founding.
However, the platform is still in expansion mode, with plans to enter new markets following a recent successful launch in Australia. Other 2019 highlights for Klarna include:
Advertisement
- Joining the Shopify Plus Technology Partner Program to expand its global presence;
- Securing a $460 million funding round to expand further in the U.S.; and
- Selling a $20 million stake to H&M, with the retailer implementing Klarna across all of its channels.
