Mistral AI raises €3 in Europe's biggest tech funding round
What's the story
French artificial intelligence (AI) company Mistral has raised €3 billion at a valuation of around €21 billion ($24 billion). The funding round is being touted as the largest equity financing round by a privately owned European tech firm. PSG Equity, Samsung Electronics, and the EU-backed Scaleup Europe Fund jointly led the round.
Expansion strategy
Mistral's growth and funding utilization
Mistral is now Europe's second-most valuable private tech group and the continent's fastest-growing company, according to its CFO, Johan Bergqvist.
The funds raised will be used to power Mistral's models and invest in frontier research.
Despite being dwarfed by Anthropic and OpenAI, Mistral is seen as Europe's best bet for a leading AI company.
Bergqvist said any potential IPO for Mistral is "always, of course, an optionality for us going forward" but timing is "still up in the air."
Tech independence
Mistral's open model development and geopolitical implications
Mistral's development of "open" models allows its over 125 customers to download and customize models on their own servers.
The company's client base is becoming more geographically diverse, especially in Asia and North America.
This move comes as Europe pushes for technological independence, a need underscored by the US limiting foreign access to two advanced models developed by Anthropic in June.