What Sowento Gmbh does

Sowento GmbH is a Stuttgart-based wind energy engineering consultancy and software vendor founded in 2016 as a spin-off from Stuttgart Wind Energy (SWE) at the University of Stuttgart by David Schlipf, Florian Haizmann, Steffen Raach, Holger Fürst, and Frank Lemmer. The firm serves wind turbine OEMs, floating wind developers, wind farm operators, and classification societies, with deep specialization in two domains: lidar-assisted control (lidar wind field reconstruction, motion compensation, feedforward/feedback control) and floating offshore wind turbine engineering (coupled simulation, controller design, digital twins, monitoring). Its core product suite is anchored by SLOW, a low-order floating-wind simulation engine, and the FBsowento family of controllers, of which over 3,000 units are in operation on large onshore and offshore wind turbines; complementary products include pewit (lidar wind field reconstruction), puffin (floating-lidar motion compensation), solis (lidar simulator), the Moving-Horizon DLL, and Ozea, a digital-twin monitoring solution co-developed with AMOG.

The business model combines bespoke engineering services (simulations, design, optimization, controller design, certification support), software licensing for proprietary simulation and control products (with server-based licensing options), and technology advisory, all delivered via direct enterprise engagement and quote-based pricing rather than self-serve tiers. Sowento is a small, privately held GmbH (1–10 employees) with no disclosed institutional investors; it monetizes its academic roots through a dense network of partnerships with OEMs (Siemens Gamesa), developers (OWT, Seawind, TetraSpar, Blue Aspirations, Seaplace), classification societies (ClassNK), industry bodies (Carbon Trust / FLW JIP), and EU/national consortia (SUDOCO, CROWN, NEOWIND, VAMOS, FLOATFARM). Geographic reach spans Germany, the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, and Japan, with the company claiming a global footprint for its consultancy and software offerings.

Name

Sowento Gmbh

Legal name

sowento GmbH

Website

https://sowento.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sowento GmbH is a Stuttgart-based wind energy engineering consultancy that builds proprietary simulation, lidar, and control software (notably SLOW and the FBsowento controller family) for wind turbine OEMs, floating wind developers, and operators worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consultancy Services: Provides comprehensive engineering services including simulations, design, optimization, and controller design for wind turbines. Projects are tailored to client needs with close collaboration throughout.
2. Software Solutions: Licenses proprietary software products including SLOW (floating wind turbine simulation), pewit (lidar wind field reconstruction), FBsowento controllers, and digital twin solutions. Provides both in-house licenses and support with server-based licensing options.
3. Technology Advisory: Provides strategic technology counsel and bespoke software solutions tailored to unique client needs. Includes technology roadmap guidance and certification support.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sowento GmbH is a wind energy engineering consultancy that delivers proprietary simulation and control software alongside bespoke engineering services for onshore, offshore, and floating wind turbines. Its core software products include the SLOW low-order floating wind turbine simulator, the FBsowento family of feedback controllers, the pewit lidar wind field reconstruction tool, the puffin floating lidar motion compensation software, the solis lidar simulator, and physics-based digital twin solutions. Engineering services cover lidar-assisted controller design, coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic analysis, floating platform dynamics, digital twin development, and certification support for wind turbine OEMs and developers.

Product overview

Sowento Gmbh is an engineering consultancy offering specialized software products and services for wind energy applications, with core expertise in lidar technology and floating wind turbines. The product portfolio centers on the SLOW (Simplified Low-Order Wind turbine) simulation software as the foundation for floating wind turbine modeling and digital twins. Key products include the pewit wind field reconstruction software for lidar-based power performance testing, the solis lidar simulator, and a comprehensive feedback controller product line (FBsowento One for bottom-fixed turbines, FBsowento One Floating and FBsowento Next Floating for floating turbines). The lidar-assisted control software suite provides modular solutions including LDP, TI, EEM, BASE, and MULTI modules. The company also offers engineering services including simulations, design, controller design, and software solutions for lidar control, floating wind, and lidar measurement applications. Products are primarily sold as standalone software licenses with engineering service packages rather than a unified platform-plus-modules architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FBsowento: Feedback control systems for wind turbines including FBsowento One (bottom-fixed), FBsowento One Floating, and FBsowento Next Floating controllers
• SOWENTO
• SLOW
• pewit
• solis
• puffin
• Ozea

Products and services

• SLOW (Simplified Low-Order Wind turbine)

Quantifiable outcome

• SLOW performs 1-hour simulation in 3 seconds on standard PC - 1200x faster than typical simulation tools
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ZX LidarscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 December 2023ZX Lidars and sowento embarked on new Lidar Assisted Control initiative building on ReLACs project success. Collaboration explores commercial gains of ZX CW Lidars for LAC across onshore, offshore, and floating turbine systems.
• AMOGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 May 2023AMOG and sowento signed MoU to deliver holistic FOWT monitoring solution (Ozea). Combines sowento's wind energy expertise with AMOG's integrity monitoring solution (SMIC) for floating platforms, supporting real-time fatigue monitoring and risk-of-failure indicators.
• EOLOScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2022EOLOS, sowento, and University of Stuttgart awarded Eurostars funding for Neowind R&D project to develop Lidar Modular System (LMS) for floating lidar with vastly increased accuracy. sowento addresses lidar measurement and motion compensation.
• Carbon TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partnersowento and Carbon Trust are delivering the Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Numerical Modelling Guidelines project for the Floating Offshore Wind Joint Industry Project (FLW JIP). This collaboration focuses on developing industry guidelines for floating offshore wind numerical modeling.
• Blue AspirationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlue Aspirations and sowento are collaborating in floating offshore wind and floating lidar applications, working together on advancing technology in these specialized areas.
• SeaplacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeaplace and sowento are partners in the EU funded EUROSTARS project CROWN Motion Reduction, focused on motion reduction of floating offshore wind turbines with Reduced Spar Design platforms.
• Siemens GamesacoreTechnology or IntegrationSiemens Gamesa Onshore Technology and sowento are collaborating in LIDAR Assisted Control project, with David Schlipf managing the project on sowento's side.
• ClassNKmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClassNK and sowento are collaborating in the field of floating wind turbines, working on technical assessment and development of floating wind solutions.
• OWTcoreStrategic or Co-development Partnersowento and OWT have cooperated successfully in developing floating offshore wind structures. sowento was responsible for all coupled analyses and controls, with OWT transferring coupled loads into FE-models of components.
• TU Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTUHH and sowento are partners in the VAMOS (Validation, Measurement, and Optimization of Floating Wind Turbines) project, a national funded project focused on floating wind turbine validation and measurement.
• University of Stuttgart (SWE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partnersowento originated from Stuttgart Wind Energy (SWE) at University of Stuttgart. Maintains strong ongoing collaboration with academic research group on floating wind and lidar technology.
• TU DelftcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject coordinator for SUDOCO project. sowento contributes floating wind turbine activities and leads health monitoring prototype development for FOWT.
• Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSUDOCO project partner contributing to wind farm flow control research and development.
• Technische Universität MünchenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSUDOCO project partner contributing to wind farm control research.
• Politecnico di MilanomajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSUDOCO project partner in the European collaboration for wind farm control room of the future.
• ShellmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSUDOCO project partner contributing to wind farm flow control and control co-design research.
• Youwind RenewablesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSUDOCO project partner in the European collaboration for wind farm control room of the future.
• FLOATFARM ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon Europe funded project (2024-2027) developing next generation environmentally-friendly floating wind farms. sowento leads advanced control work on wave-informed controller design and validation.
• Advisory Board (Siemens-Gamesa, NREL, Applied Risk, Windesco, Crosswind)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvisory board members for SUDOCO project providing industry guidance and expertise.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DNV: DNV is a global energy consultancy and classification society offering advisory, certification, and engineering services across offshore wind, including floating wind design verification and standards development — directly comparable to sowento's floating wind engineering and certification-support services.
• 8.2 Consulting: 8.2 Consulting is a German renewable energy consultancy focused on technical due diligence, wind farm engineering and project advisory — a comparable smaller specialist competitor to sowento in the German wind engineering services market.
• K2 Management: K2 Management provides asset management, technical due diligence and wind energy consulting for wind farm operators and investors — overlapping with sowento's wind farm operator customer segment and engineering services portfolio.
• Fraunhofer IWES: Fraunhofer IWES is a German wind energy research institute performing R&D on wind turbine design, control, lidar-assisted control and floating wind systems — directly comparable to sowento's academic roots and floating wind/lidar R&D capabilities.
• Offshore Wind Consultants (OWC): OWC is an independent consultancy providing owner's engineering, technical due diligence and concept/feasibility services specifically for offshore wind developers, including floating wind — closely mirroring sowento's specialist engineering consultancy positioning in the same customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Bureau Veritas: Bureau Veritas is a global testing, inspection and certification company with an energy business serving offshore wind developers and OEMs with project certification and advisory — comparable to sowento's collaboration with classification society ClassNK on floating wind technical assessment.
• COWI: COWI is a Danish-headquartered engineering consultancy with a strong offshore wind practice covering structural design, geotechnical engineering and project advisory — comparable to sowento's floating wind engineering and offshore wind expertise, particularly across Northern European markets.
• Wood Group: Wood is a large global engineering and consulting firm with a renewable energy practice spanning onshore and offshore wind project advisory and engineering services — overlapping with sowento's broader wind energy engineering services but at much greater scale and scope.
• TÜV SÜD: TÜV SÜD provides testing, certification and engineering services for the wind industry including type certification, project certification and component qualification — comparable to sowento's certification-support and engineering services to wind OEMs and developers.

Emerging players

• Wind Maritime Crete (WMC): WMC is a specialized engineering services firm focused on floating offshore wind coupled analysis, hydrodynamics and mooring systems — directly comparable to sowento's floating wind coupled-simulation and floating platform dynamics capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sowento

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sowento Gmbh