‘Buy-now-pay-later’ app Klarna soars to eye-popping $45.6B valuation

Deferred payments app Klarna soared to a valuation of $45.6 billion in its latest fundraising round — buoyed by an investment from Japan’s SoftBank. 

The “buy-now-pay-later” firm, which raised $639 million Thursday, is now Europe’s most valuable privately-held financial technology company. Like competitors Afterpay and Affirm, Stockholm-based Klarna lets consumers take home items then pay for them later through a series of smaller payments with interest. Think of it as “layaway with a twist.”