Aidan Gomez, the cofounder of Canada and US-based startup Cohere, greets me in Paris in traditional tech CEO gear — gold earrings, all-black sweatshirt-and-loose-trousers combo styled with a pair of Salomons.
I’ve been given a short interview following the announcement that the company, which builds foundational AI models for enterprises, is doubling down on Europe with the opening of a new office in Paris that will act as its “central hub” for operations in the region.
The move will see Cohere double the size of its team in the French capital to 40 people, including both technical staff and commercial profiles. The goal? Take on the European market.
“We’re very excited about the growth [in Europe],” said Gomez during a press conference. “The market is starting to invest in AI […] So we’re excited to be an option for European companies.”
With an office in London and employees already working across Europe, Cohere has already been present in the region for several years. But Gomez says over the past 12 months, opportunities have been growing much faster than before.
“If you’d asked me two years ago, I would’ve said it is quite difficult to sell in Europe, and there is a deep aversion to risk,” Gomez tells me. “But today, with the present reality of the world and the threats that exist, there’s been a big shift.
“I’ve seen a big change this year in terms of ambition in Europe.”
Sovereign AI
Cohere develops foundational AI models for enterprise customers, which it deploys on customers’ premises and trains using their internal data. This enables greater privacy, security and control, says the startup, compared to off-the-shelf models offered by competitors like US tech giant OpenAI.
Cohere typically partners with companies in highly regulated fields, such as the Royal Bank of Canada, US healthcare company Ensemble Health Partners and the government of Canada.
Gomez says the past year has seen European businesses realise the importance of having better control over the technology they use. With the US adopting more protectionist policies since the election of Donald Trump at the start of 2025, the prospect of seeing export controls and restrictions imposed on critical technologies has become a source of concern.
“Ensuring there is no third party that can switch you off, there is no foreign entity that can just shut down the operation of your economy or government — we’re starting to actually see that happening,” says Gomez. “So it's a wake up call that this isn’t just talk or fear mongering, it’s actually happening and needs to be protected against.”
This is creating plenty of opportunities for Cohere, which Gomez pitches as an “alternative to Big Tech” for European players. The company plans to work with customers in the region in healthcare, finance, telecommunications and the public sector.
Cohere and Mistral
It may seem that Cohere is coming at French champion Mistral in its very own turf. Mistral launched two years ago in Paris to build foundational models focusing on privacy and control, and targets enterprises in similar sectors.
Gomez insists that “it’s not an ‘either or’, it’s an ‘and’”. But he also says Cohere, which was created in 2019, has the most mature technology and entered the enterprise market first, meaning it has already developed a strong network of partnerships with companies like Dell, Oracle and LG.
The move is also likely to heighten the fierce competition for talent in the French capital. One of the main reasons to open an office in Paris, says Gomez, was recruitment, particularly in research.
“We’re happy to pay talent extremely high salaries because that’s what they deserve and that’s what the market prices that skillset at,” says Gomez. “We want to compete, we want to get this talent, that’s what we’re here for.”
Last year OpenAI also opened an office in Paris, while Anthropic has recently been reported to be hiring employees in France, although the company has yet to open an office there.
Enterprise adoption
With nearly $1.5bn raised to date at a $6.8bn valuation, Cohere is far behind some of its US competitors: OpenAI is reportedly eyeing a $500bn valuation that would make it the most valuable startup in the world, while Anthropic is valued at $183bn. The startup, however, is only just trailing Mistral, which last week raised a €1.7bn Series C at an €11.7bn valuation.
“Consumer-facing [AI models] took off, there were hundreds of millions of people using it overnight,” says Gomez. “Enterprises are much slower machines. They took longer to build momentum. But now we’re seeing [AI] is getting rolled out across every single company.”
Although delayed, the growth curve for enterprise adoption is therefore set to follow a similar trajectory, according to Gomez. Since the beginning of the year Cohere has tripled its revenues, he says; he did not provide a specific number but the startup was recently reported to be on track to achieve $200m in annualised revenue in 2025. Mistral is reportedly set to hit $100m in sales this year.
So has Cohere, like Mistral (reportedly), been targeted by Apple for acquisition? Gomez laughs and pauses. “I don’t know who Apple is trying to buy.”
