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

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-19

Power-intensive industries have always had a complicated relationship with electricity. It's a massive operating cost, a logistical headache, and a source of constant worry. But what if it could be something more? What if it could be a strategic advantage? That's the bold question Reykjavik-based SnerpaPower is answering, and investors are paying close attention. This week, the DeepTech company announced it has secured $3.7 million (€3.4 million) to accelerate its expansion across Europe. The funding is a mix of a $3.2 million (€3 million) Seed round led by Encevo, a key player in Luxembourg's energy transition, and a $430,000 (€0.4 million) grant from the Icelandic Technology Development Fund. Existing backers Crowberry Capital and BackingMinds also doubled down on their support. ### The Big Shift: Electricity as an Asset The core idea here is simple but profound. For decades, factories and industrial plants treated electricity as a fixed cost. You need a certain amount of power to run your machines, and you pay whatever the market charges. But Europe's energy grid is changing fast, and that old mindset is becoming a liability. "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." Baldursdóttir, who founded the company in January 2022 with Eyrún Linnet, is onto something. As renewable energy sources like wind and solar become more dominant, electricity prices fluctuate wildly throughout the day. Sometimes power is nearly free; other times it's incredibly expensive. The companies that can predict these swings and adjust their operations accordingly are the ones that will thrive. ### How SnerpaPower's Platform Actually Works So, how does the software deliver on that promise? It's all about connecting the dots in real time. SnerpaPower's AI-powered platform links industrial operations directly with electricity contracts and market data. This allows the system to do a few critical things: - **Forecast demand:** It predicts how much electricity a facility will need in the coming hours and days with impressive accuracy. - **Identify flexibility:** It spots moments when a plant can safely reduce or shift its power consumption without hurting production output. - **Automate sourcing:** Once Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and procurement strategies are in place, the platform automatically executes the best buying decisions. This isn't just theoretical. The company says its platform is already managing more than 10 terawatt-hours (TWh) of industrial electricity consumption annually across roughly 15 Nordic industrial sites. Their customers include aluminium and metals producers, data centres, and power-to-X facilities—operations where energy costs are a huge deal. ### The Technical Challenge Behind the Scenes Of course, making this work in the real world is no small feat. Industrial facilities have strict operational constraints. You can't just shut down a smelter or a server farm because electricity prices spike for an hour. "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," said Auður Vésteinsdóttir, CTO and co-founder. "That's the technical challenge we've spent years solving." The goal is to make sophisticated electricity optimisation feel simple for industrial customers, regardless of how complex their operations are or how they source their power. The software handles the heavy lifting, so the plant managers don't have to become energy market experts. ### What's Next for the Company? With this fresh capital, SnerpaPower plans to push into new European markets and double down on its forecasting, automation, and market-integration capabilities. The investment is a clear signal that the energy transition isn't just about building more wind turbines or solar panels—it's also about the digital innovation that makes those assets work smarter. "The energy transition requires investment not only in renewable energy and infrastructure, but also in digital innovation," said Martin Wienands, Venture Partner at Encevo. "SnerpaPower combines deep industrial expertise with technology that helps large electricity consumers reduce costs while creating a more flexible energy system." This funding round follows a $2.4 million (€2.2 million) raise in 2023, which was co-led by Crowberry Capital and BackingMinds. The continued support from those early backers suggests they see real momentum here. For power-hungry industries across Europe, the message is clear: electricity is no longer just a bill to pay. It's an operational asset that can be planned, optimised, and, when flexibility exists, turned into a new source of revenue.