Klarna IPO, Mistral mega-round fuel Europe’s Wall Street tech revival | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

In the space of just three days, we saw an almost complete rewrite of the European start-up story, thanks in large part to the immensely successful public debut of Klarna (KLAR) , the Swedish fintech, on the NYSE.

Klarna’s success erased doubts and fears concerning the future of European fintech.

The $17 billion IPO is part of a larger narrative brewing around the American markets, one of optimism.

Circle Internet (CRCL) and CoreWeave (CRWV) were among the prominent companies debuting this year; both are classic examples of much-hyped triple-digit IPOs that delivered the goods for investors.

For Klarna, the U.S. is its growth engine, so the debut makes sense on multiple levels. However, a side story that is emerging, thanks to this auspicious start, is that of the European side of Big Tech, and how that will affect U.S. markets moving forward.

Apart from Klarna, French AI firm Mistral and London’s ElevenLabs are making some notable moves, increasing their valuation manifold. This begs the question of whether analysts who focus all of their attention on China and the U.S are underestimating the value of Europe in the race for tech dominance.

It’s a trend worth dissecting for investors and analysts alike, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere.

Mistral’s $1.8 billion raise, led by Dutch chip giant ASML, signaled a rare fusion of Europe’s industrial and AI power.

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Klarna IPO and Mistral fundraising set Europe’s tech rally in motion

The dust is still settling on Swedish fintech Klarna’s fairytale on the NYSE; debuting at $40 a share, the stock ended up gaining more than 14% on debut.

The reversal from its 2022 valuation crash is stark. That’s when the company’s overall value fell from $45.6 billion to just $6.7 billion, an event that seems far in the past, considering the fintech’s long-awaited return to public markets on Sept. 10.

All told, Klarna managed to rake in $1.37 billion, increasing its capitalization to more than $17 billion, driven by solid results in the lead-up to the IPO.

Klarna, much like other major European enterprises, reports half-yearly numbers, and these were excellent across key metrics in the first half of 2025, indicating high margin growth from its AI-driven risk and underwriting engine.

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Guiding for positive cash flow in the near future, there is much to admire about Klarna, especially as U.S. fintechs such as Affirm (AFRM) remain stuck in tighter rate cycles. Again, this further demonstrates that the European narrative is not stuck.

Mistral AI is a case in point. The French company managed to raise €1.7 billion ($1.83 billion) in a Series C round led by ASML (ASML) recently, pushing its valuation to a juicy €11.7 billion — not bad for a European tech startup.

The company, now among the most valuable AI firms globally outside the U.S., holds a significant partnership with ASML as a result of the latest fundraising round, since the latter is now its biggest stakeholder.

As if the equity stake were not enough, the two companies plan to focus on AI model integration and chip development. ASML’s market cap is $320.01 billion, just to put things in perspective.

Not to be outdone by either Klarna or Mistral AI, the London-based ElevenLabs, which allows people to make hyper-realistic speech in dozens of languages, announced a second round for workers. This raised its value to $6.6 billion, signifying, once again, the interest people have for late-stage European AI investments.

Why this moment matters for Europe’s tech, AI ambitions

Europe is in a unique situation. After several decades of America and China hogging the headlines, we finally have a situation where the common retail investor, especially in the U.S., is focusing on the European markets.

The traditional story was that European entrepreneurs built strong businesses, American corporations bought them, and money flowed back over the Atlantic. But trends seem to be changing.

Klarna’s debut illustrates the importance of sound product execution and the right timing. Make no mistake: Klarna’s greatest market is currently the U.S., where it has marquee pipes (Stripe) and major merchants (Walmart (WMT) U.S. exclusive BNPL, plus eBay (EBAY) ). But the success of the company is homespun.

A European industry leader, not a U.S. investor, spearheaded Mistral’s fundraising. This illustrates that European capital can lead the way, not simply follow.

And ElevenLabs shows a deeper kind of investor interest: They are patient, sure of themselves, and prepared to gamble on European teams in large numbers.

The key difference this time for Europe, unlike in previous tech cycles, is that the emphasis from day one on the continent has been clarity. There was often a backhanded compliment paid to European tech that it was good, but not good enough to scale itself without the blessing and capital of Silicon Valley.

That narrative will change, especially with the latest developments.