Klarna is planning to raise around $500 million to fund its US expansion, with the potential round valuing the company at more than $10 billion.

Reuters reported that the Swedish payments provider is tapping up both existing and new investors, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.

The buy now, pay later specialist declined to comment at this stage.

Earlier this week, Klarna announced updates to its app, aiming for a more personalised shopping experience, with users not having to leave to purchase items on retailers' websites.

However, at the start of this month, Klarna reported losses rising by almost 85 per cent during the first half of this year, compared to the same time last year.

Between January and June 2019, it saw net losses of $9.52 million, but in the first six months of this year, this rose to $62.98 million in net losses. However, the FinTech unicorn did report a total net operating income of $529 million – up 37 per cent year-on-year.

It’s thought Klarna plans to file for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the US within the next two years, with this latest funding round likely to be its last before listing.

Last August, Klarna raised $460 million at a valuation of $5.5 billion, to help fund its push into the US market.

At the end of the year, chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski said he had not ruled out taking the company public, while also indicating more private investment is possible to fund US expansion plans.

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