FinTech Swan, a Paris-based embedded finance provider, adds €42 million to its Series B funding round to fuel its European expansion and product innovation.
The investment, led by Eight Roads Ventures, includes participation from existing investors Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Hexa, and BPI France.
“In the future, I believe business management software will become a key distributor of banking services. Whether it’s for HR or Accounting, these tools will offer banking features seamlessly integrated into the user’s workflow. This means you’ll have access to banking services right when you need them, directly in the tool you’re using. We call this embedded banking. At Swan, we’re working hard to provide both the technology and compliance framework to make this a reality for SMEs across Europe,” said Nicolas Benady, founder & CEO of Swan
Founded in 2019 by Mathieu Breton, Nicolas Benady, and Nicolas Saison, Swan enables companies to offer financial services without becoming regulated themselves. Swan processes over €1.5 billion in monthly transactions for more than 150 companies—like Pennylane, Factorial, Agicap, Sesame, and Lucca—and operates in 30 European countries. Swan is a principal member of Mastercard and a licensed financial institution, regulated by the French banking authority (ACPR).
For example, customers such as accounting software provider Pennylane or freelancer platform Indy, collaborate with Swan to offer accounts and payments functionalities to their end-customers – making it possible to handle payments and reconciliations in a single platform.
According to Swan, the embedded finance sector represents one of the fastest-growing opportunities in fintech, valued at €177 billion globally, including €69 billion in Europe. Embedding financial products offers a significant new revenue stream for companies through interchange fees, interest income, and subscription fees while increasing end-customer retention.
Swan also argues that the timing for embedded finance adoption has never been more favourable than it is today. Advances in technology have made it easier and more productised, while rising interest rates enhance its value.
“We believe the embedded finance opportunity is immense, and that banking services will increasingly be offered directly where users are, within existing software and workflows. We’ve known Nicolas and his team since their early days and have been consistently impressed by their rapid progress, Tier 1 customer base, and successful international expansion,” said Lucile Cornet, Partner at Eight Roads Ventures.
Swan stands out in the embedded finance market with its self-built core banking system, localised offerings, highly productised solutions, and unique regulatory framework. By building its core infrastructure entirely in-house, Swan ensures full control over its product roadmap, enabling deeper and more advanced banking functionalities than most competitors.
Swan’s regulatory model removes the burden of direct regulatory relationships, enabling customers to focus exclusively on their commercial activities while Swan handles compliance, KYC, and risk management. Additionally, Swan’s local IBANs and country-specific payment solutions enhance trust and usability.
Going forward, Swan is focused on scaling its operations to better serve partners, supporting them from project conception to go-live and beyond. Swan works with companies serving small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and has seen a reported 250% growth in monthly revenue and transaction volumes since the last funding round, as well as a 370% increase in the number of cards issued.
This new funding will fuel growth in key European markets like Italy, further enhance Swan’s banking solutions specifically to serve the SMB market, and accelerate the development of tailored card programs. With 85 new hires planned, Swan is solidifying its position as a major partner to cater to the banking needs of European SMBs.
Swan is also known to the EU-Startups team from when it exhibited its FinTech solution at a previous EU-Startup Summit. This year’s EU-Startup Summit will be held on April 24-25 in Malta, where we’ll be showcasing many of Europe’s hottest startups and coming together to learn from some of the most successful European entrepreneurs of our time.
Ready for two days of networking, inspiration and learning? Apply today.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/01/swan-adds-e42-million-funding-to-further-embedded-finance-across-europe/
