Rail is one of the pillars of low-carbon mobility. With nine times lower emissions than road transport, and three times less energy consumption, it could become the backbone of our mobility. But it remains hampered by high costs, a massive shortage of drivers, and regional or freight lines that have been abandoned for lack of profitability.

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Futurail has decided to break this deadlock. The Franco-German startup, founded in 2023, has just secured €7.5 million in funding (including €5.5 million in equity, €1 million in public subsidies and €1 million from a pre-seed conversion) to develop the first certified autonomy stack for trains. A technological and industrial gamble that could transform rail into the backbone of sustainable mobility in Europe and beyond.

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Why rail autonomy is a change of scale

Today, each train requires 5 to 7 drivers in rotation. In France alone, there is already a shortage of over 10,000 drivers, a figure that rises to 70,000 on a European scale. Half of the profession will retire in the next ten years. The result: regional lines closed, a massive shift to road transport, and a fading climate promise.

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Futurail has come up with a radical solution: to automate driving using an on-board system combining sensors (radar, lidar, cameras) and artificial intelligence algorithms. Unlike automated metros, which are confined to closed circuits, this solution is designed for theentire rail network, in an open environment.

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The value is clear:

• 500 k€ savings per train per year on operating costs;
• 20% less energy consumption thanks to optimized driving ;
• the possibility of reopening branch lines or making full use of depots and marshalling yards;
• enhanced safety, thanks to a system designed to meet the most demanding railway standards.
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On a European scale, widespread rail autonomy could double the modal share of rail and avoid more than 10 Mt of CO₂ per year.

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A team of autonomy pioneers

Behind Futurail are three complementary profiles from the pioneers of the autonomous car:

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• Alex Haag, CEO, Polytechnique & MIT, ex-Tesla and ex-CTO of Audi's autonomous subsidiary (AID, acquired by Argo AI). He has structured teams from 0 to 300 people and piloted the deployment of the very first Autopilot.
• Dr. Patrick Dendorfer, CTO, PhD in AI and computer vision, specialist in railway safety standards, formerly with Argo AI. He oversees R&D and technical architecture.
• Maximilian Schöffer, CCO, expert in mobility and transport strategy, formerly with Circ and Edge Case. He is in charge of business development and relations with operators.

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An experienced international team, backed up by a network of advisors (former Deutsche Bahn executives, machine learning experts).

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Structuring partnerships in Europe and the United States

Futurail's approach is not theoretical: the startup already has several key partnerships.

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• In France, with a major national operator and Lohr Industrie, to develop regional and rural mobility solutions.
• In the United States, with Parallel Systems, a startup founded by former SpaceX employees and already funded to the tune of $40 million, which is developing autonomous electric freight cars.

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These pilot projects are enabling the startup to generate its first revenues, build international credibility and move forward with the certification of its technology.

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A market ripe for disruption

Although the world's railways are dominated by major manufacturers (Alstom, Siemens, Stadler, CRRC), none of them currently offer turnkey autopilots for open lines. Their expertise remains focused on metros and signalling. Futurail is therefore positioned as a natural technology supplier, and not as a frontal competitor.

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Faced with equipment manufacturers who limit themselves to partial bricks, Futurail is developing a complete, agnostic software stack, already chosen by players such as Parallel Systems.

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Our investor conviction

At Asterion Ventures, we support entrepreneurs capable of moving systemic lines: decarbonizing entire sectors, transforming strategic industries.

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We have chosen to co-lead a €2 million investment alongside Leap435 (Munich), joined by EIT Urban Mobility and American investors (Zero Infinity Partners, Heroic Ventures). This round is also complemented by non-dilutive financing (BPI, Région Grand Est).

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Our conviction is simple:

• The team ticks all the boxes: technological credibility, industrial execution, commercial vision.
• The timing is ideal: rail is under pressure to absorb more traffic, even as the driver shortage worsens.
• The market is gigantic: 250,000 trains in Europe, representing potential annual recurring revenues of €25 billion.

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Futurail has the opportunity to become the world's benchmark supplier of rail autonomy, by building a certified, scalable and exportable standard.

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What's next?

The funds raised will be used for three priorities:

1. Accelerate recruitment of engineers and certification experts, to double the team within 18 months.
2. Continue pilots in Europe and the United States, and expand the sales pipeline.
3. Start the certification process, with a first milestone on automated warehousing as early as 2027.

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Ultimately, Futurail aims to deploy partially autonomous trains as early as 2028, followed by gradual extension to secondary lines, before achieving full autonomy on main lines in the early 2030s.

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In less than two years, Futurail has gone from an ambitious idea to an international benchmark for rail autonomy. The €7.5 million in funding is more than just capital: it's a key step towards transforming a two-hundred-year-old mode of transport into the backbone of sustainable mobility.

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We're proud to support Alex, Patrick, Maximilian and the whole team in this adventure. Because the future of mobility won't just be played out on the road - it's also on the rails.

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Find out more at www.futurail.com