Finnish company Wirepas gets €24 million in EIB financing to advance self-repairing large-scale wireless networks

• EIB loans €24 million to support Finnish deep-tech company Wirepas in developing software for massive scale industrial and commercial Internet of Things uses
• Initiative to share real-time data in ultra-resilient, massive infrastructure networks, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and transformation in digital infrastructure
• Backed by Invest EU programme, financing to support Wirepas research and development activities in Finland and France

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing €24 million in financing to Wirepas, a Finnish deep-tech company developing wireless connectivity for large-scale industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Wirepas will use the EIB backing to bolster research, development and innovation activities in Finland and France as well as business growth in Europe and beyond.

The company develops software that allows millions of devices to autonomously connect and communicate directly with each other instead of relying on traditional mobile networks. This makes it possible to build large, ultra-resilient and cost-efficient networks for critical infrastructure in areas such as energy grids, factories, buildings or cities.

The EIB support takes the form of venture debt – a type of long-term financing for innovative, fast-growing companies that complements venture capital and other equity investment while limiting immediate dilution for existing shareholders.

“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. This is fully in line with Europe’s goals to strengthen digital sovereignty and accelerate the deployment of secure, energy-efficient technologies."

At the core of the company’s technology is an open 5G standard for connecting large numbers of devices. Called NR+, the standard enables millions of devices to operate in the same network with high reliability and low energy use, supporting the European Union’s ambitions in digital infrastructure and industrial innovation.

“Resilient scalable connectivity is becoming a cornerstone of Europe’s digital infrastructure,” said Wirepas Chief Executive Officer Teppo Hemiä. “With the support of the EIB, we can accelerate the development and deployment of Wirepas technology across Europe and beyond, enabling industries and cities to connect millions of devices securely and efficiently. This financing strengthens our ability to innovate in Europe while supporting Europe’s ambitions for digital sovereignty and sustainable industrial transformation.”

The operation contributes to the InvestEU programme objective of promoting research, development and innovation across Europe. It also supports the EIB Group’s TechEU programme.

Background information   

EIB Group  

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investments union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.

In 2023, the EIF together with six Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands) launched the European Tech Champions Initiative, a fund-of-funds to scale up innovative startups. To date, this initiative has already enabled the creation of 15 European venture capital mega-funds and scaled up 43 companies, including 11 unicorns (with more than €1 billion in capital).

Photos of the EIB Group's representatives and headquarters, logo files and video B-roll for media use are available here. 

InvestEU

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps crowd in private investment for the European Union’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Wirepas

Wirepas is a global leader in IoT connectivity, delivering the invisible infrastructure behind ultra-resilient, infinitely scalable mesh networks for large-scale, mission-critical industrial and commercial deployments. Its product, the Wirepas Platform, is based on the principles of NR+, making it globally accessible, standards-based and interoperable. Already running in more than 20 million devices worldwide, including the largest mesh network of over one million smart electricity meters, it is proven across diverse real-world monitoring and control applications.