ave you had breakfast?’, the co-founder and CEO of Klarna,
SebastianSiemiatkowskiasksinastrongaccentthatispart-Arnold
Schwarzenegger,part-YogiBear.Heis late– oneofhischildrenis ill – and
flushedfromtheFebruarycoldwhenhearrivesattheStockholmheadquartersof
the$5billioncompanyhefoundedasastudent.Introductionsmade,hequickly
hangsuphissmartwoollencoatbeforesettingdownaheavy-lookingbrown
paperbagonthetableinfrontofus.
I sayI’vealreadyeaten,butashedecantsthecontentsofthebag,I beginto
wishI’dkeptquiet.Slowly,tantalisingly,hepullsoutanassortmentofexpensive-
lookingbreakfastitems:aposhapplejuice,agiant,pillowy-softcroissant,ajar
ofwhatappearstobecloudberryjamand,finally,aneggrollthatissoenticing
it practicallysmoulderswhenhelaysit outonthecoffeetablebetween
us.Helooksatme,thentakesholdofthecroissantwith
bothhands.Suddenly,I wanta secondbreakfast.
The38 -year-oldSwede–who,at6ft2in,lookslikea
Disneyversionofa techentrepreneurprince– hasanuncanny
abilitytocreatedesire.Eighteenmonthsago,fewpeoplehad
evenheardofKlarna,thebankingcompanySiemiatkowski
startedwhenhewasjust23-years-old.Now,it isbankrolling
wardrobesaroundtheworld,allowinganyonetheabilitytobuy
whattheywant,whentheywantandpayforit awholelotlater.
Youmayhaveseenitslittlepinklogoinshopwindowsacrossthe
country–asemaphoretoallthatyoucanspendlikeanoligarch
evenif yourbankbalancedeclaresotherwise.
Injust 15 years,SiemiatkowskihasgrownKlarnaintoone
ofEurope’slargestbanks,whichprovides,atitscore,a‘buynow,
paylater’serviceto 85 millionshoppers.Hehasalsopersuaded
morethan2O5,OOOfee-payingretailers,includingFarfetch,Asos,
NikeandH&M,tosignupina bidtomakeconsumers’buyingjourneyssmoother
byessentiallyofferingflexiblepaymentmethods–withjustone-click.Through
Klarna,whichlaunchedintheUKin2O14,youcanoptto‘PayLater’(between
14 to3Odaysafterpurchasing),‘PayInThree’(repayinginthreeequalstatements)
or‘SliceIt’(whereyourepayininstallmentsforanythingfromthreemonthsto
threeyears).It’sthedigital,shinyversionofthe198Oscatalogueshoppingyour
mumusedtogetexcitedabout.
Theofficeis certainlyunlikeanybankI’veeverbeeninbefore.Fora start,Klarna
HQis a sleekmodernistbuildingslapbanginthemiddleofStockholm,filledwith
expensive-lookingScandifurniture.There’sfree-flowingcoffee,thoughtfullyplaced
greenplantseverywhereandgiantscreensdeclaring:‘It’ssemlatime’–semla
beingSwedishcardamom-spicedbunsfilledwithcream.Bya largesquareatrium,
whereSiemiatkowskihostsregularall-staffmeetings,thereis a vendingmachinethat
won’tgiveyoua DietCoke,butwillprovideyouwitha Macchargeranda keyboard
tomakesureyou’renevercaughtshort.I spotanemployee– or‘Klarnaut’,asthey’re
called– casuallywalkingbywitha babyina sling.Noonebatsaneyelid.
Overthepastthreedecades,theretaillandscapehascompletelyreinvented
itself–andSiemiatkowskihasbeenoperatingfromitsepicentre.WhileAmazon
hashadownershipovertheone-clickcheckoutfor2Oyears(andthisis ownership
intheliteralsense:theretailgiantpatentedthetechnologyinthe199Osandit
hasonlyjustexpired),Klarnahasemergedasa middlemanpaymentoptionthat
notonlypromisestomakeshoppingmore‘frictionless’fortheconsumer,butalso
morelucrativeforretailers.IntheUK,merchantsthathavesigneduptoKlarna
haveseena significantboostinsales.
ThishasmadethebrandoneofthedarlingsofSweden’stechscene;impressive
whenyouconsiderStockholmis thesecond-most-prolifictechhubpercapitaafter
SiliconValley.*(Klarnaisalso,alongsideSpotifyandgamesmakerKing,one“ EIGHTEEN
MONTHS AGO,
FE W PEOPLE
HAD HE ARD OF
KL ARNA...
NOW IT’S USEDby (^) 85 million
shoppers^
”^
H
93
Elle RE ADS
ELLE.COM/UK May 2O2O