Wirepas gets €24M in EIB venture debt to scale industrial IoT networks
What's the deal? The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €24 million to Wirepas, a Finnish deep-tech company that builds software for large-scale industrial Internet of Things (IoT) networks. The funding, structured as venture debt, will support research and development in Finland and France, plus broader business growth across Europe.
Wirepas develops software that lets millions of devices connect and communicate directly with each other — no traditional mobile network required. The result: ultra-resilient, low-cost networks for critical infrastructure like energy grids, factories, and smart cities.
Why now? At the core of Wirepas's tech is NR+, an open 5G standard designed for massive device connectivity with high reliability and low energy use. The EU is pushing hard for digital sovereignty and secure, energy-efficient infrastructure — and Wirepas fits squarely into that agenda.
"Europe needs to scale technologies that can connect millions of devices reliably and at low cost," said EIB head of division for deep tech, digital and life sciences Yu Zhang. "Companies like Wirepas will help build the next generation of digital systems for industry, energy and cities."
The financing is backed by the InvestEU programme and supports the EIB Group's TechEU initiative — both aimed at channelling capital toward European innovation.
What could go wrong? Venture debt offers Wirepas growth capital without immediate dilution for existing shareholders, but it still adds leverage to a company that must compete globally against well-funded rivals in IoT connectivity. Scaling from niche industrial deployments to truly massive networks is an engineering and commercial challenge that capital alone won't solve.
The signal: Wirepas, currently at the "breakout" stage according to Dealroom, typifies the kind of European deep-tech company that has historically struggled to bridge the gap between R&D and large-scale commercialisation — precisely the gap the EIB's venture debt instruments are designed to fill. The deal also highlights a strategic pivot in how Europe funds IoT infrastructure: rather than backing the telecom incumbents, public capital is increasingly flowing to software-defined, decentralised connectivity layers that could undercut traditional network economics.
Read more: eib.org
