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

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-11

### The $4 Million Bet on Smarter Batteries Furo, a Munich-based energy software company, just closed a $4 million funding round. The company, formerly known as Lumera Energy, is on a mission to make industrial battery storage economically viable. 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. So why does this matter? Because industrial energy costs are skyrocketing, and batteries alone aren't enough. You need software that thinks. ### Software That Thinks 48 Hours Ahead Furo's platform forecasts power prices and weather up to 48 hours in advance. Then it optimizes battery operation in real time, deciding when to charge, discharge, or sell power back to the grid. The result? Customers can cut their electricity costs by up to 40%. "Our customers didn't buy a battery to own technology," says co-founder Lena Sophia Voß. "They bought it to lower their electricity bill. In one of the most volatile power markets in the world, that's decided by software, not hardware." That's a crucial distinction. Most battery installations today run on rigid, pre-programmed rules. They ignore real-time price swings and weather changes. Furo's forecasting module prices in those fluctuations, turning volatility from a risk into an opportunity. ### From Munich to 6,000 Sites Across Europe Founded in 2025 by Voß, Leonie Wagner, and Simon Wittner, Furo started as a master's project at the Centre for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) in Munich. Today, more than 800 companies use the platform across over 6,000 sites in Germany and Europe. The company doesn't sell directly to end customers. Instead, it partners with installers, project developers, storage manufacturers, and utilities. The platform adapts to each role, from system sizing to asset operation to marketing unused capacity in energy trading. > "Lena, Leonie, and Simon understand the European energy market at an extraordinary level of depth. It's a remarkable example of team-market fit." — Schuster Tanger, co-founding partner at TQ Ventures ### Why Germany Is the Perfect Testing Ground Germany has some of the highest electricity prices in the world. Global energy demand from AI data centers is rising sharply, hitting energy-intensive industrial companies hardest. Inflexible energy demand costs industrial companies an estimated $580 billion per year worldwide. The problem isn't renewable energy itself. It's price volatility, high grid fees, load peaks, and a lack of consumption flexibility. Furo's software addresses all of these by making storage systems responsive instead of static. Earlier this month, Furo announced a partnership with Berlin-based LUOX Energy to launch a combined solution for optimizing commercial and industrial battery storage. And in May 2026, the company rebranded from Lumera Energy to Furo. With this fresh $4 million, Furo plans to expand into additional European markets and grow its team. For American businesses watching Europe's energy transition, Furo's approach offers a glimpse of what's possible when software meets hardware—and when flexibility becomes a competitive advantage.