ASML, the Dutch supplier of chipmaking equipment, is set to become the lead investor in French AI darling Mistral’s next fundraise, according to Reuters.
Sifted confirmed the information with three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
ASML is investing €1.3bn as part of the startup’s €1.7bn Series C; it will become Mistral’s biggest shareholder and is expected to get a board seat, however it will not have majority ownership of the company, one source with direct knowledge of the deal tells Sifted.
ASML, which has a market cap of over €260bn, makes components called lithography machines, which are essential in chip manufacturing. Its customers include Intel and TSMC.
While ASML’s investment is confirmed, the round is not yet finalised and the total amount raised could still change, according to the same source.
With this fundraise Mistral will achieve a €10bn pre-money valuation, reports Reuters, which will make it one of the most valuable private tech companies in Europe.
Mistral declined to comment.
European sovereignty
Mistral was founded in 2023 by DeepMind and Meta alumni and is considered Europe’s best chance at competing in the foundational AI models’ race.
Backed by high-profile global investors including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Lightspeed, the startup develops foundational AI models, a similar technology that underpins OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.
Earlier this year, Mistral also expanded into providing cloud services via an AI infrastructure platform it is developing in partnership with Nvidia.
From the start Mistral has pitched itself as a key pillar of European tech sovereignty. The deal with ASML will provide the startup with significant firepower to compete with US and Chinese AI models while also reducing its reliance on non-European funds.
The investment is also strategic for ASML, which will benefit from Mistral’s technology to improve its products and develop new tools.
