Payment processing platform Klarna announced on Thursday its plan to open a tech hub in Berlin at the beginning of next year. Klarna reported that the new hub will enable it to further build out its product portfolio and services as well as better serve its merchant and consumer base throughout Europe and the U.S.
“The new Berlin site will be based in the very heart of Berlin’s thriving technology scene in Berlin Mitte and offers Klarna employees space of around 7,400 square meters in a modern and functional repurposed car garage. In the future, it will house more than 500 employees focusing on product, engineering and commercial growth and will be an addition to Klarna’s German offices in Munich and Linden, each with approximately 100 employees.”
While sharing more details about the hub, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO Klarna, stated:
“Berlin is one of the most exciting tech and entrepreneurial hubs worldwide and attracts exceptional local and international talents from all over the world. We are very proud and humbled to be part of that thriving ecosystem now. This site will enable us to further scale our footprint in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and new markets, but at the same time build new products and services to solve people’s shopping pain points across Europe and the US. We are on a very exciting journey from a pure payment provider to a global shopping ecosystem and our team in Berlin will play a decisive part to reach our ambitious goals.”
Robert Bueninck, General Manager DACH, also commented:
“The DACH market as a whole developed fantastically throughout the past years and we have a very strong momentum and growing brand awareness in the region. With several thousands of new merchants which went live with us this year and many millions of consumers using our services, Germany is hugely important to the company to drive volume and revenue growth. The new site in Berlin is testament to our strong track record locally and our commitment to becoming the most favorite way to buy in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.”
Klarna went on to add that it currently employs more than 2,500 employees in Stockholm, Los Angeles, New York, Columbus, Madrid, Brussels, London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Berlin, Linden, Munich, Oslo, Helsinki, and Uppsala.