Klarna makes third acquisition of 2021, buys travel planner Inspirock: Here’s more

Klarna, a global retail bank, payments, and shopping service, announced that it has acquired Inspirock, an online trip planner platform that utilises local expertise and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The exact financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.

The announcement comes three months after acquiring Stockholm-based SaaS startup APPRL and a social shopping platform HERO to tap into the immense growth potential of shopping across social media channels.

Inspirock: What you need to know

Founded by Anoop Goyal and Prakash Sikchi in 2012, Inspirock is an app that provides a detailed day-by-day plan of attractions at various destinations on the user’s personalised itineraries. 

It builds itineraries from curated attractions in various destinations across the United States and Europe. Over 25M travelers use the platform annually to plan trips based on their interests or seek new places to visit, claims the company. 

Why this acquisition?

According to ReportLinker, 66 per cent of global travel bookings are made online, and is expected to grow to 72 per cent by 2025, creating a market worth a projected $833B (approx €715B). After social media shopping, Klarna aims to capitalise on the travel boom. 

This acquisition will enable Klarna’s 90M users to plan and shop for their trips before paying in installments through the Klarna app. In addition, the Swedish company aims to save its customers hours of planning for the typical vacation by using Inspirock’s technology. 

Anoop Goyal, CEO, and Co-Founder of Inspirock says, “We are excited to bring simpler, easier trip planning to Klarna’s 90M global consumers. Our goal at Inspirock has been to make planning a trip fast, fun, and easy. Together we can deliver on Klarna’s ambitions of providing a smooth shopping experience to the travel space in an innovative way. Klarna and Inspirock together can bring great inspiration, tools, and shopping experiences, making planning the trip as fun as the actual trip itself.”

Klarna says the acquisition is an additional advantage for its network of 250,000 retail partners, who will be able to advertise to high-intent shoppers with more curated and personalised content catered to their travel plans and preferences.

Klarna CEO and Co-Founder, Sebastian Siemiatkowski says, “By bringing Inspirock to Klarna, we are bringing the best of Klarna’s smooth customer experience to the travel sector. For customers, this makes the whole journey from inspiration to planning and preparing for a trip simpler, less stressful, and more fun, while enabling our retail partners to better reach and engage with their audiences by offering more personalized content. It’s a natural extension of the benefits Klarna brings to payments and shopping.”

Klarna: What you need to know

Founded by Niklas Adalberth, Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Victor Jacobsson in 2005, Klarna is an e-commerce payment solutions platform for merchants and shoppers. The platform gives customers the freedom to choose how and when to pay. 

It has over 250,000 global retail partners, including H&M, Saks, Sephora, Macys, IKEA, Expedia Group, Samsung, ASOS, Peloton, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, and Shein. The company operates in 17 countries and has over 4,000 employees.  

Klarna is one of the most highly valued private fintechs globally with a valuation of $45.6B (approx €39.1B). To date, the company has secured $3.7B (approx €3.1B) in funding from various investors including Sequoia Capital, SilverLake, Dragoneer, Bestseller Group, Permira, Ant Group, HMI Capital, TCV, NorthZone, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock amongst others.

Partnership with Wix

A few days back, Klarna announced a strategic partnership with Wix, a global SaaS platform to create, manage and grow an online presence. Together, Wix and Klarna will bring flexible, convenient payment options to Wix eCommerce merchants across various regions, including the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, and others.