Estonian DriveX raises €1.2M to detect windshield damage quickly - Related to damage, estonian, energy, raises, €3m

Embedded fintech Swan extends Series B with €42M

Parisian fintech Swan, an embedded finance platform, has added €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 investment will be used for product innovation, expansion across Europe, customer acquisition and retention. The business hopes to capitalize on the market's anticipated significant growth in the coming years.

The platform enables companies to offer financial services without becoming regulated themselves. For example, clients such as accounting software provider Pennylane or freelancer platform Indy, collaborate with Swan to offer accounts and payment functionalities to their end-clients.

“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.

Embedding financial products facilitates interchange fees, interest income, and subscription fees, and rising interest rates have increased their value.

“We believe the embedded finance opportunity is immense, and that banking services will increasingly be offered directly where people 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.” expressed Lucile Cornet, Partner at Eight Roads Ventures.

Swan’s regulatory model removes the burden of direct regulatory relationships, enabling end-consumers to focus exclusively on their commercial activities while Swan handles compliance, KYC, and risk management. It currently operates in 30 European countries.

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Estonian DriveX raises €1.2M to detect windshield damage quickly

Estonian deeptech DriveX has raised [website] to accelerate windshield damage detection technology and expand its AI capabilities.

The round was spearheaded by Carglass Estonia, Lithuanian and Slovenian business angels, existing investors and a development grant from the Estonian applied research program.

Glass damage accounts for 40 percent of all vehicle insurance points to, so DriveX solution helps insurance and repair companies enable customer self-service for damage assessments.

It uses AI to make repair or replacement decisions, to increase repairs and reduce unnecessary windshield replacements.

"Handling glass damage is our next step in making vehicle repairs more economically and environmentally fair. Looking ahead, I see significant waste and inefficiencies in the repair of other assets as well, such as buildings or consumer electronics. The European Parliament's 'Right to Repair' initiative is providing strong momentum for creating a sustainable future, and we aim to become a leader in this space," stated Rauno Sigur, CEO of DriveX.

Until now, DriveX has primarily served insurance companies, offering an imaging solution for pre-insurance vehicle risk assessments. Last year, the corporation introduced AI-based functionality for windshield damage detection, expanding its market reach. The DriveX application guides car owners in capturing images of windshield damage.

"DriveX helps us reduce labor costs and enhance the customer experience with its smart remote solution. Our bookings are more accurate, and spare part management is smoother – for example, we don’t need to order a new windshield if the damage is repairable. Additionally, DriveX's solution improves transparency in our processes and enhances trust among key clients," commented Sven Freiberg, CEO of Carglass Estonia.

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EPYR raises €3M for thermal energy storage

EPYR, a French climate tech specialising in thermal energy storage (TES), has raised a €3M pre-seed funding round co-led by AENU and Daphni. OVNI Capital and WEPA Ventures joined as well as several European business angels.

EPYR provides heat decarbonization and breakthrough electrification solutions, particularly for industrial heat demands, which represents 25 percent of global energy consumption. It provides these by converting renewable electricity into heat during low-cost energy periods and storing it in high-efficiency firebricks, in doing so delivering high-temperature, decarbonized heat while easing the burden on the power grid and supporting the energy transition. The business is also developing the product's technological maturity, ease of installation, and modularity to optimise it for industrial facilities.

The funding will be used to launch industrial-scale pilots across Europe to demonstrate the technology’s viability, scalability, and economic value as well as advancing and standardising EPYR's thermal energy storage (TES) technology, including both hardware heat batteries and AI heat optimization software, to enhance efficiency and scalability.

“With renewables scaling at an unprecedented rate, we see a massive opportunity to leverage thermal energy storage and electrify industrial heat.” said Fabian Heilemann, founder & CEO of AENU.

“We see enormous potential in solutions that electrify industrial heat processes across sectors—from paper to chemicals. EPYR is bridging the gap to large-scale implementation, and we're proud to partner with them on this journey.” added Till Rosnick, WEPA Venture Managing Director.

EPYR was co-founded by Bastien Oggeri, second-time entrepreneur and co-founder of French Tech Next 40 Innovafeed, and Léa Dardenne, a former partner at Boston Consulting Group specializing in energy and sustainability.

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