Munich Startup Furo Raises $4M to Slash Industrial Energy Bills by 40%

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-11

Furo, a Munich-based energy software company formerly known as Lumera Energy, just closed a $4 million funding round. The goal? Make industrial battery storage actually pay off for the companies using it. The round was led by US investor TQ Ventures, with participation from Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners (yes, that's Sheryl Sandberg's fund), Neo, and CDTM Venture Capital. ### The Problem With Batteries Today Here's the thing: most industrial batteries run on rigid, pre-programmed rules. They charge and discharge on a fixed schedule, completely ignoring real-time weather and electricity prices. That's like setting your thermostat to 70°F year-round and wondering why your energy bill is through the roof. "Our customers did not buy a battery in order to own a technology, but in order to lower their electricity bill," says Lena Sophia Voß, co-founder of Furo. "In one of the most volatile power markets in the world, that is decided by the software, not by the hardware." She's got a point. Germany's electricity prices are among the highest globally, and the rapid build-out of wind and solar has made the grid wildly unpredictable. Static systems just can't keep up. ### How Furo's Software Changes the Game Furo's platform forecasts power prices and weather up to 48 hours ahead. Then it optimizes battery operation in real time—deciding when to charge, when to release power, and when to sell unused capacity back to the grid. Customers reportedly cut their electricity costs by up to 40%. The company doesn't sell directly to end users. Instead, it works through installers, project developers, storage manufacturers, and utilities. Over 800 companies across 6,000+ sites in Germany and Europe already use the platform. ### Why Investors Are Betting Big "Lena, Leonie and Simon understand the European energy market at an extraordinary level of depth," says Schuster Tanger, co-founding partner at TQ Ventures. "It's a remarkable example of team-market fit." The three founders met at the Centre for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) in Munich, a joint program between LMU Munich and the Technical University of Munich. They founded the company in 2025 as Lumera Energy and rebranded to Furo in May 2026. ### The Bigger Picture Inflexible energy demand costs industrial companies an estimated $580 billion annually worldwide. The culprit isn't renewable energy itself—it's price volatility, high grid fees, load peaks, and a lack of flexibility in consumption. Furo recently partnered with Berlin-based LUOX Energy to launch a combined solution for optimizing commercial and industrial battery storage. It's a smart move in a market that's only getting more complex. So what's next? Furo plans to use the fresh capital to further develop its software, expand into more European markets, and grow its team. If they can pull it off, they might just make industrial battery storage economically viable for everyone.