European technology company Futurail has secured €7.5m ($8.8m) in a seed funding round to enhance its autonomous train systems.
The funding includes €5.5m in seed investment, €1m in public grants, and €1m from pre-seed conversion.
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The investment was co-led by Asterion Ventures in Paris and Munich-based Leap435, alongside contributions from EIT Urban Mobility and US investors Zero Infinity Partners and Heroic Ventures.
The funding will enable Futurail to expand its workforce, execute projects with train manufacturers, and pursue regulatory approval for its initial project on depot autonomy.
Founded in 2023 by experts who previously worked at Tesla, Argo AI, and Edge Case, Futurail is focused on addressing the shortage of train drivers, which impacts the expansion and cost efficiency of rail services.
Operating in both France and Germany, the company combines expertise in autonomous driving and AI with railway systems, aiming to make train travel a more viable option.
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By GlobalDataFuturail CEO and co-founder Alex Haag said: “While leading the Autopilot team at Tesla, I saw how autonomy can completely transform an entire industry.
“We founded Futurail to bring that same revolutionary potential to rail, turning a 200-year-old industry into the backbone of sustainable mobility.”
The company’s FUTURAILDriver system is designed to be installed on both new and existing train fleets.
The firm is already collaborating with European and US partners to integrate and test its technology.
It already partnered with the Lohr Group, a French transport systems manufacturer, and Parallel Systems, a US startup developing battery-electric freight rail vehicles.
The firm’s technology is said to bring about a shift from road to rail transport, potentially reducing CO₂ emissions by more than ten million tonnes annually through increased rail use for passengers and freight.
Futurail co-founder and chief commercial officer Maximilian Schoffer said: “What excites our partners is that autonomy unlocks both growth and efficiency.
“Operators can run more trains, more often, at lower cost. That is a complete game-changer.”
