Exclusive: AI startup Optimuse lands €4m to slash energy use in buildings: 'We want to remove the guesswork'

Vienna-based deep tech startup Optimuse has bagged €4m in seed funding to speed up the rollout of its AI platform for greener, cheaper buildings.

The round was led by Berlin-headquartered Seed + Speed Ventures and Blum Ventures. Existing backers Matterwave Ventures, from Munich, and Austrian pre-seed fund aws Gründungsfonds also chipped in.

The Vienna-based company, founded in 2021, wants to tackle the inefficiencies in how buildings are designed and maintained.

“We’re trying to remove the guesswork – showing exactly how many systems, like air conditioners or heat pumps, a building really needs,” Dominik Pezzei, Optimuse's co-founder and CEO, tells Impact Loop.

Real-world savings

Its AI platform ingests existing plans and documents, builds a digital model of the project, and runs thousands of simulations. The result is a shortlist of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) options that will save the most costs and energy.

In one project, for instance, Optimuse says it helped a client discover that adding a shading system reduced the need for a large ventilation upgrade, saving money and emissions. In another, its AI recommended one heating pump instead of the three originally proposed – cutting energy use and installation costs.

The company claims its tool makes preliminary engineering 70% faster, trims construction costs by 10%, and slashes emissions by an extra 20%. Those savings, it says, hold up across residential, commercial, and industrial projects.

For new builds, the platform helps avoid over- or undersized energy systems – a common mistake that drives up costs, says Dominik. For retrofits, Optimuse models scenarios like swapping gas for heat pumps or converting offices into apartments, complete with cost-benefit analyses and action plans.

Expansion plans

Investors say the technology could move the needle in a market under pressure from EU energy-efficiency rules and a backlog of buildings that need renovation.

“Optimuse addresses one of the biggest issues of our time: the sustainable transformation of the building stock,” said André Hammerer, managing director at Blum Ventures.

Optimuse runs on a SaaS model and is now ramping up expansion. The fresh cash will go toward hiring sales and customer teams, with a focus on Germany, Austria, and southern Europe.

The push comes as Europe faces both surging demand for renovation and stricter climate regulations. Buildings account for around 36% of EU emissions, and policymakers are pressuring developers to slash energy use. Optimuse is betting that better data, not bigger systems, is the way forward.