By Andrea Hargraves 
Swedish fintech company Klarna, known for its “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) installment payment solutions, will install a development center in Portugal. According to the company’s announcement, this center will be established in the country’s capital, without a concrete site yet.
This new product development center in Portugal aims to capitalize on the company’s global expansion. The company wants to hire human resources, and it expects Markaz to create 500 jobs over the next few years.
The investment associated with creating this “center” was not disclosed, but the company’s chief technology officer, Yaron Shaer, ensures it is a “significant investment”, given the hiring goals.
Thus, the Lisbon Center will join other Swedish fintech hubs, spread across Stockholm, Berlin, Giessen, Milan, Mannheim or Madrid, which were announced last year.
Yaron Shire, Klarna’s chief technology officer, says the center aims to “bring together local and global talent in various professions, including engineering.” The company makes it clear that in the coming months it will focus its recruitment efforts on positions related to product development, such as engineers, product managers and analysts.
Carlos Moedas, Mayor of Lisbon, was present at the announcement made by the company on Wednesday. In this presentation, Moedas explained, asking if there was any incentive to attract this investment in Portugal: “There was nothing that was provided here” to attract Swedish fintech. However, I have committed to supporting the company in several aspects.
Moedas argued that the establishment of this center in Lisbon could “give opportunities to many [engenheiros] who are leaving to stay in Portugal.” “The shortage of engineers has something to do with the shortage in the global market. If we can create conditions in Lisbon for them to stay “that will be positive for Portugal,” advocated the mayor of Lisbon.
Klarna entered the Portuguese market in November of last year, with Alexandre Fernandez Ribeiro leading the operation in Portugal. Fintech has partnerships with several retailers, offering payments in installments for online purchases, in amounts between 35 and 1,000 euros, without interest.
The company has partnerships in many markets with giants such as H&M, Samsung or the Portuguese-British Farfetch. At the time of Portugal’s entry, Klarna’s director of the Portuguese market confirmed in statements to Negócios that the company is “working so that in the coming months it can integrate more Portuguese brands into the ecosystem”, but without revealing concrete goals to be achieved. “We started small and learned quickly. The idea is that in the coming months we can bring the global brands already working with Klarna to the Portuguese market,” Promised in November Alexandre Fernandez Ribeiro.
Klarna was created in 2005, and according to Bloomberg calculations, it will be valued at about 60 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to 57 billion euros.