Impress dental aligners are once again setting the pace in Barcelona's health sector. The orthodontics company has closed a financing round of 117 million dollars (110 million euros at the current exchange rate). Shortly after announcing the acquisition of its main European rival, Dr Smile, the health technology firm has raised funds to continue expanding across Europe, with plans to open 20 new clinics in 2025 and enter new markets. The operation involved the participation of investment funds Trinity Capital Inc, CareCapital, LBO France, and TA Ventures.
"With this financing round, Impress has strengthened its position as Europe's number 1 orthodontics chain. Our business model, deeply rooted in clinical excellence and reinforced by our own R&D, has proven to be resilient and highly scalable. This investment allows us to consolidate our leadership," said Dr. Khaled Kasem, Director of Orthodontics and co-founder of Impress, along with entrepreneurs Vladimir Lupenko and Diliara Lupenko.
It is not the first time the company has managed to raise so many funds. In 2022, it closed a mega-round of over 120 million euros, boosting the records of the Catalan health sector, which closed the year with a record 445 million euros raised. It was an operation subscribed by the venture capital fund LBO France, Norgine Ventures, and Claret Capital Partners, who joined investors who had already participated in previous rounds of the company such as TA Ventures, Uniqa Ventures, and Nickleby Capital.
With the acquisition of Dr Smile, part of the Straumann group, Impress has bolstered its leadership in Europe, where it has achieved profitability this 2024. Previously, Impress had expanded into Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and France, with the latter being the last country to join the list and where it had a more limited presence. Therefore, the acquisition of DrSmile has allowed it to strengthen itself in markets where its former competitor was stronger, such as Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and especially France. After the operation, the Straumann group now holds 20% of Impress's capital. Founded in Barcelona in 2019, with a first clinic on Roger de Llúria street, the Catalan company now also has its headquarters in Berlin.
With Europe dominated, where competitors now remain concentrated at a local level such as Vitaldent in Spain or Dental Pro and Nuvola in Italy, Impress also aims to go beyond its borders in the coming years. It arrived in the United States in 2022, when it merged with the Californian chain Uniform Teeth, but this market still has little weight for the Catalan company.
With a workforce of more than 1,000 employees, Impress has its own factory to produce invisible orthodontics with 3D printers in the Zona Franca. The other three production centers that provide it with material are external. The company has its own clinics, with more than 40 establishments, which are complemented by the rental of spaces in third-party clinics, where it places its own professionals to attend to patients. In total, it is present in 110 clinics.