French AI institute Mistral AI announced on Tuesday that it had raised 3 billion euros (about $3.58 billion) at a post-money valuation of more than 21 billion euros (about $24.39 billion), confirming previous rumors.
The Series D round, which Mistral described as “the largest equity financing round ever completed by a European technology company,” was led by Samsung Electronics, with co-lead participation from ScaleUp Europe Fund managed by EQT and existing investor PSG Equity.
Mistral said it will use the funding to expand computing capacity, build infrastructure, accelerate commercial growth and expand its international footprint. The funding could also help it position itself better. The company says its goal is not to build the ChatGPT of Europe, and that it still envisions itself as an AI lab, although its model is not yet mainstream.
The funding will help Mistral pursue a nuanced shift in strategy, aimed at further addressing concerns in Europe and other regions that it is too reliant on the U.S. in technology, especially in the face of escalating politics over AI regulation and products at home.
In addition to its push to build 1GW of computing capacity in Europe by 2030, Mistral in August announced a tool that allows customers to select the regions in which their AI queries will be processed. It has also started hosting third-party openweight AI models (including those from China) to strengthen its position as an AI service provider that wants to control which AI models their customers use and how they are used.
The company on Tuesday characterized its frontier research as “the foundation that underpins our infrastructure, products and sovereignty,” which may be an indirect response to naysayers who interpreted the company’s decision to host the Chinese model as a sign of its transformation into an inference provider.
Mistral’s mention of global ambitions is also likely an effort to dispel the common misconception that the company’s mission is limited to France. The lab currently operates in 20 countries, and its go-to-market strategy is focused on helping governments and businesses leverage AI and maintain a sense of control, unlike other frontier labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which sell AI models more broadly.
Samsung’s entry into the cap table for Mistral has received the blessing of French authorities, so the strategy has high expectations for Mistral as France’s tech champion. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X that the round reflects France and South Korea’s goal of “building a third way in AI.”
The fact that Mistral’s funding round justified such a statement is a reminder of the geopolitical undertones that surrounded AI companies primarily to Mistral’s interests. Not being a U.S. company reportedly boosted Mistral’s profits as demand for sovereign AI infrastructure grows.
On the other hand, France cannot raise the capital needed to compete with large US laboratories on its own. But with Dutch chipmaker ASML as a key partner and investor, and now Samsung on board, Mistral appears to have found a third path – similar to the merger between Germany’s Aleph Alpha and Canada’s Kohia.
Mistral is still working with US players, particularly Microsoft, through a strategic partnership that the two companies significantly expanded in July. The new Series D was also backed by American investors. Existing backers like a16z, Nvidia, and Salesforce Ventures invested, as well as new backers Advent and BlackRock.
Still, the AI Lab’s cap table remains resolutely international, with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg also joining as a new patron and a number of other existing European patrons also doubling down. And that may be enough for Mistral’s target customers.
If you make a purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect editorial independence.
