EIB backs Impress with €40M venture debt loan to scale AI orthodontics across Europe
What's the deal? The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €40 million venture debt loan with Impress, a digital orthodontics network that runs more than 110 clinics worldwide. The financing will fund Impress's AI platform for diagnosing and treating clear-aligner patients, and back its expansion into Northern Europe.
What's the endgame? Impress is building what it calls an AI-driven healthcare ecosystem that links in-clinic 3D intraoral scans, treatment planning, and patient monitoring through its mobile app. Chief executive officer and co-founder Vladimir Lupenko said the technology lets the company "multiply the efficiency of our clinics ten times" and "reduce in-person visits by 80%."
Why now? Having consolidated in Southern Europe, Impress is targeting Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK for its next growth phase. The loan, guaranteed by the EU's InvestEU program, falls under the EIB's priority of boosting digitalisation and technological innovation.
How notable is the size? At €40 million, the loan sits in the 95th percentile of debt rounds for health companies in Spain, against a sample of 127 deals — placing it among the larger such financings on record.
The signal: The deal stands out as long-term institutional financing rather than another venture-equity round — the EIB has offered similar support to European health-tech firms, including a €15 million loan to Smart Reporting. It also underscores a sector shift toward digitally integrated, clinician-supervised orthodontics, where players such as Align Technology are adding AI-assisted treatment-planning tools. For Impress, that means competing on software and care delivery as much as on aligners.
Read more: eib.org
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
