Leonie Wagner Returns to Munich to Lead Furo’s Tech Division

Munich Startup reported that Leonie Wagner, a physicist and robotics expert, now oversees the technology division at Furo, an energy startup based in Munich. She previously conducted research at Stanford University on Neural Prophet, a model for forecasting time series and making predictions interpretable. Wagner explained that her decision to return to Munich was driven by the urgent need to address high and volatile electricity prices, extreme market volatility, and industrial pressure in Europe. She noted that existing storage systems are often planned in spreadsheets, operated under rigid rules, and lack effective marketing, creating a clear market gap that demanded a solution. Wagner emphasized that the most valuable product ideas emerge from customer conversations rather than internal workshops, and that feedback from users is a critical gift for development.

The company has been funded through the Exist founding grant from the Technical University of Munich, has attracted over a hundred paying customers, and secured its first external investment in October 2025 after completing the Neo accelerator program in San Francisco. Wagner highlighted that the current moment is ideal for founding in the energy sector, citing rising electricity costs, expanding storage capacity, and evolving regulations that support smaller installations. She also argued that software integrated with physical infrastructure such as power grids, heating networks, and industrial processes offers defensible advantages over pure software solutions that can be quickly replicated.

Wagner suggested that Munich could improve its startup ecosystem by offering more technical forums without competitive pressure, citing a recent demo night organized with Marble Cognition as a model where participants could showcase prototypes without the need for a pitch or prize. She expressed admiration for Mira Murati, the former CTO of OpenAI, and indicated she would ask her about navigating leadership in a male-dominated environment and the pivotal career decisions that shaped her path.