Swedish payment start-up iZettle announced it will go public this year.

The financial technology firm said Tuesday that it plans to raise 2 billion Swedish krona ($226 million) through an initial public offering on the Nasdaq in Stockholm.

The company provides mobile card readers and other digital payment products to small businesses. It is a rival to Square, the U.S. fintech firm led by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, but only competes directly with the $20 billion company in the U.K.

IZettle said in a statement that, "depending on market conditions," the Stockholm listing is expected to be completed this year.

The company's CEO Jacob de Geer has previously spoken of the company's intention to go public, saying that it was surrounded by "ifs and buts, market conditions and so-forth." Tuesday's announcement solidifies that intention.

"We believe that the listing will support our continued growth, our strategy and provide us with improved access to capital markets," De Geer told CNBC.

"Our strategy going forward is to grow our merchant base in existing markets as well as shift the mix towards slightly larger merchants, though we'll continue to remain focused on small businesses."

IZettle is currently a loss-making company, but it's targeting net revenue growth of 40 percent in the medium term and wants to achieve positive consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) by 2020.

"We made a strategic choice together with the board to prioritize growth over profitability, to build iZettle's brand and secure a leading position in our target markets," De Geer said.

"It's all going according to plan and we can clearly tell that our strategy is paying off."