French startup Swan has raised another €42 million (around $44 million at current exchange rates). The company considers this round as the second part of the Series B round that was originally announced in September 2023.
Swan helps other companies offer financial products at scale. The company can generate both virtual and physical cards that work with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Cards can be configured programmatically by Swan’s corporate clients with spending limits, authorized merchants, and more.
It can also create payment accounts with an individual IBAN. This way, accounts support pay-ins, pay-outs, and even SEPA direct debits. These accounts can be used as the source of money for the payment cards.
Several fast-growing companies have chosen Swan as their embedded banking partner. For instance, Pennylane, a French accounting startup that became a unicorn last year, now offers accounts and payment cards to its customers and relies on Swan for those features.
Similarly, Indy, an all-in-one administrative assistant for freelancers, turned to Swan to add accounts and cards to its offerings. Other customers include Agicap, Factorial, Lucca, and Sesame.
Overall, Swan works with 150 companies and processes €1.5 billion in monthly transactions.
Eight Road Ventures is leading the second tranche with existing investors Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Hexa, and Bpifrance participating again; Bpifrance originally invested in Swan’s seed round through its Digital Venture fund.
“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,” Eight Roads Ventures partner Lucile Cornet said in a statement.
While the company isn’t disclosing its valuation, Swan’s co-founder and CEO Nicolas Benady told TechCrunch that it’s higher than it used to be. “We’re not a unicorn yet, so we don’t mention it,” he said.
While many fintech startups are building products on top of other fintech APIs and products, Swan has built its own core banking system. That’s why it can offer local IBANs and add country-specific payment products.
As for Swan’s customers, having the option to handle money without handling money directly is an interesting opportunity. Swan handles compliance and KYC obligations (“know your customer”). With Thursday’s funding round, Swan will continue to expand to more countries, with Italy being next on the roadmap.
