Klarna vs Plaid
Side-by-side equity comparison for employees weighing offers at Klarna or Plaid. Valuations, funding history, headcount growth, and secondary-market context.
| Klarna | Plaid | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest valuation | $5.04B | $8B |
| Latest round | IPO | Series D |
| Round date | March 2025 | May 2023 |
| Total raised | $4.5B | $734M |
| Founded | 2005 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden | San Francisco, CA |
| Employees | 4,634 | 1,367 |
| Employee YoY growth | -1% | +21% |
| Primary industry | Fintech | Fintech |
| Secondary-market price | — | $121.94 |
| Base-case equity multiple | — | 1x |
| Upside equity multiple | — | 1x |
| Lead investors | Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake | NEA, Spark Capital |
| Status | public | private |
Overview
Global buy-now-pay-later fintech that enables consumers to split purchases into installments and provides shopping and payment solutions for merchants.
Plaid builds the infrastructure that connects fintech applications to users' bank accounts, enabling data sharing between financial institutions and apps.
Why we compare these
Klarna and Plaid both appear on Fintech decacorns .
If you're evaluating offers at either one, the equity math depends on more than the headline valuation — dilution, strike price, time to liquidity, and concentration risk all matter. Use our equity compensation calculator and exit calculator to model your own numbers.