European startups are developing software to optimize energy consumption for AI infrastructure, addressing grid capacity constraints. Companies like Sympower and GridBeyond have raised over €70 million each to aggregate industrial demand for balancing markets. Meanwhile, Capalo AI manages over 1 GW of battery storage, and Entrix focuses on battery storage optimization across German markets.
The facility layer includes etalytics, which uses AI and digital twins to improve cooling efficiency. Its clients, including NTT and Telehouse, reported energy savings between 10.4% and 19%. In 2025, etalytics secured an €8 million extension to its Series A, reaching a total of €16 million. Additionally, Gradyent raised €28 million in 2025 to optimize district heating networks.
Compute-focused firms are also emerging. FlexAI raised €28.5 million in 2024 to manage AI workloads across diverse hardware. Multiverse Computing, which compresses large language models by up to 95%, raised €189 million in 2025 and announced a Series C of up to €500 million in July 2026. Pruna AI also provides model compression tools backed by EQT Ventures.
Despite these advancements, the market remains fragmented. No single European company currently integrates grid, facility, and compute management into one system. While inference costs for models like GPT-3.5 dropped over 280-fold between November 2022 and October 2024, capital continues to favor physical infrastructure over the software layer that maximizes existing capacity.
