Furo’s founders left Silicon Valley — and it’s paying off
The founders of the industrial battery software startup Furo have found success by moving their operations from Silicon Valley back to Germany. They argue that being closer to their primary market and European industrial clients provides a competitive advantage over staying in the U.S.
Why it matters
This challenges the traditional 'Silicon Valley or bust' narrative for international startups, suggesting a shift toward decentralized, market-proximate business models.
U.S. venture capitalists once insisted that international startups move stateside before they would write a check. The three 28-year-old founders behind Furo are convinced that their decision to leave Silicon Valley and move back to their home country of Germany has paid off in both VC dollars and business growth.
The startup, which developed software for industrial battery storage systems, has secured $4 million in funding from mostly U.S. backers. And just a year after its founding, Furo has locked in enterprise clients such as German rail company Deutsche Bahn.
“We’re currently moving faster in Europe than if we’d have stayed in the U.S.,” Furo co-founder Lena Sophia Voß said.
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