Portfolio: Klarna Buys Apprl to Nab Share of Social Shopping Boom

Klarna, Europe's most valuable VC-backed company, bought Apprl to nab a share of the booming influencer marketing business.

Apprl, a SaaS platform that allows content creators and retailers work together frictionlessly to bring immersive and informative shoppable content to global consumers, will enhance Klarna’s marketing services by allowing retailers to connect directly to relevant content creators to create social shopping content and track campaign results through Klarna.

“By adding Apprl to Klarna’s existing retailer support expertise, we see a huge opportunity to create an enriching and informative shopping experience for consumers everywhere,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and founder of Klarna.

Social commerce is expected to continue to boom and account for $84 billion of US retail sales by 2024 with 48% of Millennial and Gen Z internet users already having purchased products through social channels.

“As retailers continue to embrace influencer marketing as their growth engine, with an increasing focus on ROI, data and automation, Apprl has been seeing an exponential increase in demand,” said Martin Landén, CEO and founder at Apprl.

Stockholm-based Apprl is an end-to-end influencer marketing software, tailored for the needs of e-commerce brands, where marketers can find high-performing creators, collaborate efficiently and track performance in real-time. Apprl’s platform enables millions of global consumers to shop influencer content from retailers such as Harvey Nichols, Shopbop, Dr Martens, Luisaviaroma and many more.

Principals with Revalence Ventures were early investors in Apprl.