This Icelandic Startup Just Raised $3.7M to Turn Electricity Into a Profit Center

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-19

Here's a story that should catch the eye of anyone running a power-hungry business: a Reykjavik-based startup just closed a fresh funding round to help industrial giants stop treating electricity like a fixed bill and start treating it like a strategic weapon. SnerpaPower, a DeepTech company specializing in AI-powered energy management software, has secured $3.7 million (€3.4 million) to accelerate its push into new European markets. The round breaks down into a $3.3 million (€3 million) Seed investment led by Encevo, a major player in Luxembourg's energy transition, with continued backing from existing investors Crowberry Capital and BackingMinds. On top of that, the company snagged a $437,000 (€0.4 million) Vöxtur grant from the Icelandic Technology Development Fund. ### Why This Matters for Power-Intensive Industries If you're running an aluminum smelter, a data center, or a power-to-X facility, you know the drill: electricity costs can make or break your margins. But here's the shift that's happening across Europe and beyond—the grid is becoming more dynamic, with prices fluctuating by the hour. That volatility is a headache for some, but for others, it's an opportunity. "Power-intensive industries can no longer treat electricity as a fixed operating cost," said Íris Baldursdóttir, CEO and co-founder of SnerpaPower. "Companies that can adapt to changing market and grid conditions gain a significant competitive advantage." That's the core pitch. SnerpaPower's platform connects your industrial operations with electricity contracts and markets in real time. It forecasts demand, predicts when you can safely offer flexibility, and automates your sourcing strategy once Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are locked in. ### The Tech Behind the Hype Founded in January 2022 by Baldursdóttir and Eyrún Linnet, SnerpaPower has already deployed its software across roughly 15 Nordic industrial sites. The platform manages more than 10 terawatt-hours (TWh) of annual industrial electricity consumption—that's enough to power a small country for a year. The secret sauce is in the automation. Instead of having a team of analysts staring at spreadsheets, the AI does the heavy lifting. It respects every operational constraint while reacting to changing market conditions in real time. That's the hard part, according to CTO Auður Vésteinsdóttir. "The opportunity to optimise electricity in industrial operations is significant, but every operational constraint has to be respected while reacting to changing electricity markets and contractual conditions in real time," she said. "That's the technical challenge we've spent years solving." ### Turning Flexibility Into Revenue Here's where it gets interesting for your bottom line. If your facility can shift its electricity consumption by even a few hours, you can sell that flexibility back to the grid. It's like being paid to not use energy during peak times. SnerpaPower helps you identify those windows without compromising production. - **Lower costs** by buying electricity when it's cheap - **Better planning** with accurate demand forecasting - **New revenue streams** from flexibility markets - **No production losses** because the system respects your constraints Martin Wienands, Venture Partner at Encevo, summed it up well: "The energy transition requires investment not only in renewable energy and infrastructure, but also in digital innovation. SnerpaPower combines deep industrial expertise with technology that helps large electricity consumers reduce costs while creating a more flexible energy system." ### What's Next The fresh capital will go toward expanding into additional European markets and beefing up the platform's forecasting, automation, and market-integration capabilities. This isn't the company's first rodeo—in 2023, it raised $2.4 million (€2.2 million) in a round co-led by Crowberry Capital and BackingMinds. For US-based professionals watching the European energy tech scene, this is a signal. The playbook is clear: electricity is no longer just a utility cost to control. It's an operational asset that can be planned, optimized, and, where flexibility exists, turned into a new source of revenue. As Europe's grid gets more dynamic, the companies that figure this out first will have a serious edge. SnerpaPower is betting its AI can get them there faster.