Vienna, October 1, 2025 – Austrian deep tech startup Optimuse has closed €4 million in seed funding. The capital comes from seed + speed Ventures and Blum Ventures, as well as existing investors Matterwave Ventures and aws Gründungsfonds. With the fresh capital, Optimuse is accelerating the internationalization and distribution of its AI solutions for the engineering, renovation, and operation of buildings.
OPTIMUSE is an AI platform that shows builders, developers, and planners early on which technical solutions for heating, cooling, ventilation, and building envelopes deliver the best results in terms of costs and emissions – in both new construction and renovation projects. Optimuse uses existing plans and documents to create a realistic digital building model, compares thousands of variants, and recommends the most economical, climate-friendly solution – including clear recommendations for action.
Early design decisions shape the costs and emissions of buildings for decades. With OPTIMUSE, these decisions are data-driven – with measurable results:
- 70% faster in preliminary engineering
- 10% lower construction costs through better selection and dimensioning
- 20% additional emission savings
These effects are evident across all projects – from residential to commercial to industrial.
Proven in practice
Transformation of existing buildings | Optimuse quickly creates a realistic simulation-based digital model of the building from existing plans and documents. Based on this, the platform compares modernization paths (e.g., heating replacement, office to residential, gas to heat pump) and quantifies the effects on CAPEX, OPEX, CO₂, and comfort. The result: technically reliable cost/benefit analyses with transparent assumption documentation and sensitivity analyses, as well as prioritized action plans that focus investments, reduce implementation risks, and accelerate CO₂ savings.
Value engineering in new construction | Optimuse analyzes early designs using simulation, identifies variants with lower energy requirements, and precisely calculates the optimal sizing of the building services equipment. This ensures that systems are neither oversized nor undersized – investment costs are reduced, operating costs are lower from day one, and the target values for efficiency and comfort are achieved in a technically comprehensible manner.
Dominik Pezzei, Managing Director and Co-founder, Optimuse: "Buildings are becoming increasingly complex, both technically and in terms of regulations. Our AI solution provides clarity: it compares variants in a very short time and recommends the most sustainable and economical solution. This enables our customers to plan, transform, and operate buildings in a future-proof and cost-efficient manner."
Alexander Kölpin, Managing Director at seed + speed Ventures: "What convinces me about Optimuse is the combination of sound technology and practical application: using digital simulations, the team shows early on in the engineering phase which renovation measures are technically feasible and also economically viable. In a market with enormous renovation needs and strict efficiency requirements, this is a real game changer."
André Hammerer, Managing Director at Blum Ventures: "Optimuse addresses one of the biggest issues of our time: the sustainable transformation of the building stock. With its combination of AI, building physics, and practical simulation, the team creates real added value for builders, planners, and operators. We are delighted to support Optimuse on its path to internationalization."
About Optimuse
Optimuse was founded in Vienna in 2021 by Dominik Pezzei, Fabian Pitscheider, and Felix Maximilian Hofer. The team of around 20 people combines expertise in construction, building physics, building technology, and artificial intelligence. It is based on scientifically sound simulations and analyses for the optimal design of building systems – with the aim of making construction and renovation projects worldwide faster, more cost-effective, and more sustainable.
About aws Gründungsfonds
The aws Gründungsfonds is an Austrian venture capital fund with a fund volume of around EUR 70 million. As an investor, the aws Start-up Fund supports start-ups from the initial growth phase through subsequent financing rounds (Series A/B) to exit. The aws Start-up Fund sees itself as a long-term, stable partner with a hands-on approach that actively supports the founding teams as a sparring partner. Since 2013, together with the predecessor fund and in cooperation with national and international co-investors, more than EUR 500 million has been invested in over 45 investments and numerous exits have been successfully realized.