Furo, a Munich-based energy software company that develops technology to control and optimize commercial and industrial battery storage systems, has raised $4 million to expand its software platform and enter additional European markets.
The round was led by U.S. investor TQ Ventures, with participation from Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, the fund backed by Sheryl Sandberg, as well as Neo and CDTM Venture Capital. Furo plans to use the capital to continue developing its software, expand internationally and grow its team.
Formerly known as Lumera Energy, Furo is building software designed to make industrial battery systems more responsive to rapidly changing electricity prices, weather conditions and grid dynamics.
Many battery installations still operate according to fixed, pre-programmed rules that determine when systems charge and discharge. Furo replaces that approach with software that continuously forecasts electricity prices and weather conditions up to 48 hours in advance and adjusts battery operation in real time.
The platform determines when batteries should charge, discharge or sell electricity into the market. According to Furo, customers can reduce their electricity costs by as much as 40% by using this more dynamic approach.
Furo does not primarily sell directly to end customers. Instead, its technology is distributed through installers, project developers, energy storage manufacturers and utilities.
More than 800 companies use the platform across over 6,000 sites in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The software supports multiple stages of the battery-storage lifecycle, including system sizing, asset operation and the marketing of unused storage capacity into energy markets.
The funding comes as industrial companies face increasing pressure from higher and more volatile electricity costs.
Furo cited forecasts indicating that electricity consumption from AI data centers could nearly triple by 2035, while wholesale electricity prices could increase by as much as 50% over the next five years. Those pressures can be particularly significant for energy-intensive industrial companies in Germany, where electricity costs are already high.
Battery systems can help businesses manage those costs by storing electricity when prices are lower or renewable generation is plentiful and releasing it when electricity becomes more expensive.
Furo’s thesis is that the financial value of those batteries increasingly depends on the intelligence controlling them rather than the physical storage hardware alone.
The company also sees growing opportunities created by Europe’s rapid expansion of renewable energy. Greater reliance on wind and solar can introduce additional price volatility because generation fluctuates with weather conditions.
Furo’s forecasting models are designed to anticipate those changes and optimize battery behavior accordingly. The company said inflexible energy demand costs industrial businesses an estimated $580 billion annually worldwide because of factors including price volatility, grid fees, demand peaks and limited flexibility.
Furo was founded in 2025 by Lena Sophia Voß, Leonie Wagner and Simon Wittner, who met through the Center for Digital Technology and Management, a joint program associated with LMU Munich and the Technical University of Munich.
The founding team brings experience from organizations including Apple, Google X, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and Boston Consulting Group. In 2025, Furo was the only European startup admitted to U.S. accelerator Neo.
The company is positioning its platform as an operating layer for commercial and industrial battery storage, helping customers manage both the physical operation of their batteries and participation in electricity markets.
As more businesses install battery systems to manage power costs, renewable generation and grid constraints, Furo sees an opportunity to make the software controlling those assets more adaptive and financially productive.
The new funding will support that strategy as the company expands beyond its existing footprint and develops additional capabilities for a European industrial market facing growing pressure to manage electricity more dynamically.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our customers did not buy a battery in order to own a technology, but in order to lower their electricity bill. In one of the most volatile power markets in the world, that is decided by the software, not by the hardware. That is exactly why we founded Furo.”
Lena Sophia Voß, Co-Founder of Furo
“Our industrial and commercial customers aren’t buying technology, they want to lower their electricity costs. With Furo’s software platform, we can deliver on exactly that promise: from system planning and operational optimization to trading surplus capacity, Furo gives us the decisive competitive edge in our commercial & industrial segment. We and our customers gain full transparency into what our battery is actually doing and why. We can already see that difference in sales and have significantly more storage projects than we did a year ago.”
Ben Rohloff, Director Commercial & Industrial at Enpal
“Lena, Leonie and Simon understand the European energy market at an extraordinary level of depth. It’s a remarkable example of team-market fit. Together, they bring exceptional technical depth and operational experience in Europe’s most complex power market. That’s already reflected in the number of projects and the data they’ve built up. Coupled with a global market for storage flexibility set to multiply in the coming years, we see this as one of the greatest opportunities in Europe and beyond.”
Schuster Tanger, Co-Founding Partner at TQ Ventures
