Swedish fintech invests more than £100m in acquisition of London shopping platform

A Swedish fintech company has announced its acquisition of a London social shopping platform in a deal worth more than £100m.

Klarna, which operates globally, has purchased social shopping platform Hero for approximately £115m.

Hero, which is designed to provide services similar to those offered in physical stores including personalised recommendations, will be added to Klarna’s platform.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, commented: “When shopping online, consumers expect an immersive shopping experience.

“Advanced brands want to provide consumers with a rich and interactive way to buy their products.

“We share our ambitions with Hero to improve the shopping experience by integrating online and in-store shopping experiences, enabling retailers to inform and engage consumers in new ways.

“There is a great opportunity to leverage Hero’s existing platform and expertise to enable in-store retail professionals to become global brand ambassadors, which will make consumers attractive and personalized shopping journeys.

“As part, it unleashes retailer growth by creating a new hybrid shopping experience that enables you to make informed purchase decisions.”

Adam Levene, founder of Hero, said: “By working together, we can bring technology to more merchants and consumers around the world, making online shopping more social, interactive, and ultimately more human.”