Swan Secures €42M to Lead Embedded Banking in Europe

Swan, Europe’s leading embedded finance provider, adds €42 million to its Series B funding round. The investment, led by Eight Roads Ventures, includes participation from existing investors Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Hexa, and BPI France. This funding will fuel Swan’s product innovation, expand its operations across Europe, and enhance support for its rapidly growing customer base. This funding reinforces Swan’s position as Europeʼs leading embedded finance provider, positioning the company to capitalize on the market’s anticipated significant growth in the coming years.

Founded in Paris in 2019, Swan enables any company to offer financial services without becoming regulated themselves. 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.

“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.ˮ said Nicolas Benady, founder & CEO of Swan

The embedded finance sector represents one of the fastest-growing opportunities in fintech, valued at $185 billion globally, including $72 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. 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.ˮ said Lucile Cornet, Partner at Eight Roads Ventures.

Swan is pioneering the next wave of fintech innovation. The first revolution in banking was shifting transactions from long queues at physical branches to the convenience of internet banking and mobile apps. While transformative, this evolution was primarily about making traditional banking more accessible.

The next wave of innovation, embedded banking, is fundamentally different. It moves transactions out of standalone banking apps and integrates them directly into the applications and platforms where users already engage. 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. Unlike others in the space, Swanʼs 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, Swanʼs local IBANs and country-specific payment solutions enhance trust and usability, setting Swan apart in the embedded finance space. 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 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 Swanʼs 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.