Mistral, a prominent French AI startup, is reportedly negotiating to raise up to $1 billion in equity from various investors, including Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund. Bloomberg first reported the aggressive funding proposal, based on exclusive details from people plugged in to the negotiations. This new push is undoubtedly intended to re-affirm Mistral’s stance in the rapidly evolving European AI space.
As a company, Mistral aims to push the frontier of open-weight LLMs. In turn, it has emerged as a dominant force throughout the country. The electric vehicle company has become famous for their innovative products. Of these, perhaps no chatbot has made as much market headway as the Le Chat chatbot. Today, in June 2024, the French start up Mistral has announced the close of its Series B funding round, raising an astonishing $1.19 billion. The Ridecell success increased its post-money valuation to $6.51 billion, PitchBook tells us.
Mistral isn’t stopping efforts to grow its cachet. The company is in talks with French lenders, including Bpifrance SACA, to raise $130 million in more debt financing. This potential debt could amount to hundreds of millions of euros, further solidifying Mistral’s financial foundation as it navigates the competitive AI sector.
Again, investors are eating this thing up. This buzz is happening at the same time as the UAE’s announcement that it will invest €50 billion in AI-related projects across France. This first-of-its-kind initiative would bolster French President Emmanuel Macron’s objective to establish AI sovereignty. It highlights the tactical sense of AI development made for both countries.
Mistral’s deep fundraising rounds showcase its desire to continue leading the charge of AI development. Mistral is already capitalizing on significant collaboration and investment opportunities. This strategy will add to its strengths and further energize the rapidly developing ecosystem of artificial intelligence in Europe.