Impress reinforces its leadership in Europe with the acquisition of German DrSmile

Impress dental aligners are gaining ground. The orthodontics company has acquired its main European competitor, the German DrSmile, part of the Straumann group. After the operation, for an undisclosed amount, the Straumann group will enter Impress's capital and will hold 20%. Founded in Barcelona in 2019, with a first clinic on Roger de Llúria street, the Catalan company will also have its headquarters in Berlin.

The operation thus consolidates the Catalan company's leadership in Europe, where it has achieved profitability this 2024. Until now, Impress had expanded into Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and France, with the latter being the last to join the list and where it had a more limited presence. Now it will strengthen its position in markets where DrSmile was stronger, such as Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and especially France.

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 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 founded by orthodontist Khaled Kasem and entrepreneurs Vladimir Lupenko and Diliara Lupenko just five years ago.

In a sector that is growing exponentially, Impress has managed to impose its business model, based on care with its own dentists and technological innovation, over that of other companies like DrSmile. "This acquisition not only boosts our geographical presence but also allows us to reinforce our success formula," said Impress co-founder and head of orthodontists, Khaled Kasem.

Unlike DrSmile, with a network of associated dentists in more than 500 clinics, Impress has its own clinics, with a total of 44 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 and plans to open 20 new ones in different countries next year. Impress indicates that they will now have to evaluate the continuity of DrSmile's more than 500 clinics, given their different operation. Both companies have treated more than 250,000 patients in ten countries.

A new company with more than 1,000 employees

With a workforce of 780 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 acquisition of DrSmile will mean incorporating about 300 more workers into the team, which will bring the total to more than 1,000 employees.

In 2022, the orthodontics company closed a mega-round of more than 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.