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Vensum Power raises €9 million to mass-produce software-controlled power converters

Vensum Power raises €9 million to mass-produce software-controlled power converters

Money Moves

The Finnish startup says its converters lose 3–5% of electricity as heat, against 7–10% for conventional designs

Yesterday: Vensum raises €9 million Series A

Overview

Updated Yesterday

Every time electricity changes form, from the alternating current on a grid to the direct current a server rack or battery needs, some of it escapes as heat. Vensum Power, a 20-person company in Helsinki, says its software-controlled converters hold that loss to 3–5%, against 7–10% for conventional hardware. On November 6, it raised €9 million to start building them in volume.

Two of the three co-leads are industrial groups that could also become customers. Larsen & Toubro, the Indian conglomerate whose data centre arm has proposed a 250-megawatt AI campus in Gujarat, and Eviny Ventures, the investment arm of a Norwegian renewable energy company, joined existing backer Lifeline Ventures. First products target EV charging, energy storage and DC microgrids in 2027. Data centres come after.

Why it matters

Data centres are projected to use about 945 terawatt-hours by 2030. A few points of conversion loss, repeated across every rack, is a large bill.

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Key Indicators

€9M
Series A round
Co-led by Lifeline Ventures, Larsen & Toubro and Eviny Ventures.
€15.2M
Total raised
Includes a €3.8 million seed round in May 2023.
20
Employees
Team is based in Helsinki and is hiring.
3–5%
Vensum conversion losses
CEO Peter Nisula's 2024 estimate, against 7–10% for conventional converters.
945 TWh
Projected data centre demand, 2030
International Energy Agency forecast, up from about 415 TWh in 2024.

Voices

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People Involved

PN
Peter Nisula
Chief executive officer, Vensum Power
Leading the company's move into volume production
TL
Tero Lehtonen
Chief operating officer, Vensum Power
Overseeing the transition to manufacturing
JP
Jyrki Penttonen
Co-founder, Vensum Power
Co-founder
MM
Mika Marjalaakso
Co-founder, Vensum Power
Co-founder

Organizations Involved

Vensum Power
Vensum Power
Power electronics company
Moving from development to volume production

Finnish maker of software-defined power converters that it says lose less electricity as heat than conventional designs.
Lifeline Ventures
Lifeline Ventures
Venture capital firm
Existing investor; co-led the Series A

Helsinki-based venture fund that led Vensum's seed round and returned as a co-lead.
Larsen & Toubro Limited
Larsen & Toubro Limited
Infrastructure and engineering conglomerate
New investor; co-led the Series A

Indian industrial group whose electronics and data centre arms give it a direct interest in cheaper power conversion.
EV
Eviny Ventures
Corporate venture arm
New investor; co-led the Series A

Venture arm of Norwegian renewable energy company Eviny, based in Bergen.

Timeline

2018 November 2026

6 events Latest: Yesterday
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Vensum raises €9 million Series A

    Latest Funding

    Co-led by Lifeline Ventures, Larsen & Toubro and Eviny Ventures; total raised reaches €15.2 million.

  2. L&T launches industrial electronics arm

    Corporate

    L&T Electronic Products & Systems begins operations, giving the group a power electronics business.

  3. L&T Vyoma signs 250MW data centre MoU

    Infrastructure

    Larsen & Toubro's data centre arm agrees with Gujarat's science department on a proposed AI campus.

  4. CEO puts conversion losses at 3–5%

    Statement

    Peter Nisula estimates Vensum's losses against 7–10% for conventional converters in an Aalto interview.

  5. €3.8 million seed round

    Funding

    Led by Lifeline Ventures, with Grid.vc, Harjavalta and Business Finland participating.

  6. Vensum Power founded in Finland

    Founding

    Jyrki Penttonen and Mika Marjalaakso start the company out of Aalto University's power conversion research.

Scenarios

1

Vensum ships first mass-produced converters in 2027

Likely Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Vensum Power management and its investors, as reported by Tech Funding News and Tech.eu

The company has said the Series A's main purpose is to start manufacturing at partner facilities, with revenue expected in 2027. If that holds, the first units go to EV charging, energy storage and DC microgrid customers, and data centre products follow later.

2

Larsen & Toubro becomes a Vensum customer, not just an investor

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Tech Funding News, which flagged the open question of whether L&T and Eviny will buy as well as invest

L&T is building a 250-megawatt AI data centre campus in Gujarat and has its own electronics arm. A supply agreement would give Vensum a large reference customer and validate the data centre pitch. No such agreement has been announced.

3

Independent efficiency data still missing as revenue nears

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Tech Funding News and CXO Digitalpulse, both noting the absence of verified loss curves

Vensum's efficiency claim rests on its own figures. Data centre buyers typically want measured loss curves at their own operating points before committing. If no third-party validation appears before sales begin, adoption slows.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2018

Silicon carbide inverters reach electric vehicles (2018)

Tesla put silicon carbide transistors in the Model 3's traction inverter, replacing silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistors. The material switch cut switching losses and let the inverter handle more power in less space.

Then

Silicon carbide wafer supply became a bottleneck as other automakers followed.

Now

Silicon carbide became the default for high-voltage electric vehicle platforms, and a wave of component suppliers scaled around it.

Why this matters now

Vensum is making a similar bet: a switching-level efficiency gain only matters at scale once a high-volume customer commits to qualifying it.

2008–2014

Enphase microinverters enter residential solar (2008–2014)

Enphase Energy shipped its first microinverters in 2008, putting power conversion on each solar panel instead of one central inverter. Installers were slow to adopt until field reliability data accumulated.

Then

Adoption was limited to early installers willing to try a new architecture.

Now

Microinverters took a meaningful share of the US residential solar market, and Enphase became a public company.

Why this matters now

Vensum's converters face the same qualification hurdle: a better efficiency number does not sell until field reliability is proven.

2018–2021

Gallium nitride chargers shrink power supplies (late 2010s)

Gallium nitride transistors let charger makers run at higher switching frequencies, shrinking laptop and phone power supplies. Several startups built businesses on the shift.

Then

GaN chargers were a premium accessory sold mostly to enthusiasts.

Now

They became common in consumer electronics, and some GaN suppliers went public.

Why this matters now

It shows how quickly a switching-technique advantage can move from a lab claim to a commodity once reference designs and manufacturing partners exist.

Sources

(4)
Tech Funding News Sesamers CXO Digitalpulse Vensum Power