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

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-11

Munich-based energy software company Furo just closed a $4 million funding round. The goal? Make industrial battery storage actually pay off for businesses drowning in high electricity costs. The round was led by US investor TQ Ventures, with participation from Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners (Sheryl Sandberg's fund), Neo, and CDTM Venture Capital. Not bad for a company founded just last year. ### What Furo Actually Does Furo builds software that controls and optimizes commercial and industrial battery storage. Their platform forecasts power prices and weather up to 48 hours ahead, then adjusts battery operation in real time. It also sells unused capacity back into energy trading markets. Here's the problem they're solving: most battery installations run on rigid, pre-programmed rules. They don't care if electricity prices are spiking or if it's about to be sunny. Furo's software changes that. "Our customers did not buy a battery in order to own a technology, but in order to lower their electricity bill," said 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." The company claims customers can cut electricity costs by up to 40%. More than 800 companies across 6,000+ sites in Germany and Europe already use the platform. ### Why This Matters for Industrial Companies Global energy demand from AI data centers is skyrocketing. That hits energy-intensive industrial companies hardest, especially in Germany where electricity prices are among the highest in the world. 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 consumption flexibility. Furo's forecasting module prices in exactly these fluctuations. Static systems remain blind to them. ### The Team Behind the Software Furo was founded in 2025 as Lumera Energy by Voß, Leonie Wagner, and Simon Wittner. They met during a joint master's program at the Centre for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) of LMU Munich and the Technical University of Munich. Schuster Tanger, co-founding partner at TQ Ventures, put it simply: "Lena, Leonie and Simon understand the European energy market at an extraordinary level of depth. It's a remarkable example of team-market fit." ### What's Next Furo plans to use the funding to further develop its software, expand into additional European markets, and grow its team. Earlier this month, the company announced a partnership with Berlin-based LUOX Energy to launch a combined solution for optimizing commercial and industrial battery storage systems. In May 2026, the company rebranded from Lumera Energy to Furo. The global market for storage flexibility is set to multiply in the coming years. With this funding and their early traction, Furo is positioning itself as a key player in Europe's energy transition.