Impress secures €40m EIB loan for European orthodontics expansion

Impress signs €40m venture debt agreement with the EIB

Spanish orthodontics company Impress has signed a €40 million venture debt agreement with the European Investment Bank to support European expansion and investment in its artificial intelligence platform, EU-Startups reports. The financing will support technology development across a network of more than 110 clinics worldwide.

The agreement gives Impress debt financing for its next stage of growth, rather than a new equity investment. Its expansion programme combines spending on the technology used to manage orthodontic treatment with a push into Northern European markets, building on its established business in Southern Europe.

According to EU-Startups, the proprietary platform brings together several stages of care: three-dimensional scans taken inside clinics, AI-assisted treatment planning and remote monitoring through a mobile app. The development programme is intended to connect the patient's treatment journey within one system, rather than treating clinical appointments and monitoring between visits as separate processes.

A Barcelona business with clinics in 10 countries

Vladimir Lupenko, Diliara Lupenko and Khaled Kasem founded Impress in Barcelona in 2019. The company specialises in invisible orthodontics, combining treatment at dedicated clinics with technology that allows patients' progress to be monitored outside appointments, EU-Startups reports.

Impress now operates in 10 countries across Europe and the United States and has treated 500,000 patients globally. Spain accounts for 22 of its clinics, while Spain, Portugal and Italy are its principal markets. That footprint provides the operating base for the company's next international growth phase.

The EIB agreement follows a financing announcement of more than €110 million in 2024. According to EU-Startups, that earlier funding supported European expansion after Impress acquired DrSmile, making the latest loan a further step in a growth strategy that has already included acquisition-led development.

Impress reported positive EBITDA and revenue of €103 million for the previous year, with sales increasing by 32%, EU-Startups reports. Those figures put the new financing alongside an existing business generating substantial revenue, rather than a company still preparing to commercialise its service. The source does not give an EBITDA figure.

Other European dental technology businesses have also attracted financing in 2026. EU-Startups reports that Paris-based DentalMonitoring secured €84 million for its AI orthodontic monitoring platform, Montpellier-based Lupin Dental raised €15 million for dental robotics and Belgium's Relu attracted €1.51 million for AI-supported dental workflows.

In Spain's wider healthcare technology market, Madrid-based Tucuvi raised €17 million for voice-AI services and Barcelona's Health Force secured €4.2 million for hospital automation, according to the same outlet. These deals cover different parts of healthcare delivery, from patient communication to administrative and clinical processes.

Lupenko points to fewer visits and greater clinic efficiency

Vladimir Lupenko, Impress's co-founder and chief executive, told EU-Startups that the company was created to bridge the divide between costly orthodontic care requiring frequent appointments and home-based alternatives with insufficient medical supervision. He said its AI engine draws on a global database of 500,000 patients and claimed the technology can increase clinic efficiency tenfold while cutting in-person visits by 80%. These are company claims reported by the outlet, rather than independently verified performance measures.

Lupenko also presented EIB support as validation of Impress's approach and a stronger foundation for establishing its model across Europe. His position links the financing to institutional credibility as well as the capital available for investment.

María Romano, head of the EIB Group Office in Spain, emphasised the potential for digital healthcare to improve service quality and efficiency, EU-Startups reports. She framed the agreement as support for innovative European growth companies using AI, with the broader aim of strengthening Europe's position in healthcare technology.

Germany, the Netherlands and the UK lead the next phase

Impress's next expansion phase will focus mainly on Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, where it has operated since 2023, according to EU-Startups. The plan is therefore to develop an existing presence in those markets, not make first-time entries. The source does not specify new clinic numbers or a country-by-country opening timetable.

Further technology development will build on tools including Impress's autonomous smile simulator. EU-Startups reports that the AI tool generates a visualisation of a patient's smile before and after treatment in three seconds without manual intervention. Its in-clinic scanning technology is also intended to improve predictions of tooth movement compared with traditional moulds.

For 2026, Impress expects revenue of around €145 million, which it describes as approximately 40% growth, EU-Startups reports. That remains a forecast: the next commercial milestone will be whether the company can deliver its projected sales increase while extending its Northern European business and developing the technology supporting patient care.