News

June 9, 2025

Mistral considering $1bn fundraise

Formal fundraising is unlikely to begin until later this year, reports say

Freya Pratty

2 min read

French startup Mistral is considering raising $1bn in funding this year, as Europe’s best-known AI company continues to benefit from increasing appetite for home-grown models.

Mistral has begun to sound out potential investors, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the news, citing people familiar with the matter. The sources said that formal fundraising was unlikely to begin until later this year.

The Paris-based company declined to comment on its fundraising plans.

Mistral has already raised over $1bn since it was funded two years ago. Its last funding round, a €600m round in 2024, valued the company at €6bn. Backers include DST Global and General Catalyst.

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The company has benefited from a push to establish European AI champions.

“There’s a lot of European companies that want to reduce their dependency on US providers . . . There’s a growing demand for more strategic autonomy,” Arthur Mensch, Mistral’s chief executive, said last month.  

Its customers include BNP Paribas, AXA, Stellantis and CMA CGM. The Financial Times reported that Mistral’s sales are on track to surpass $100m a year for the first time in 2025, citing people familiar with its finances. Mistral declined to comment.

Freya Pratty

Freya Pratty is a senior reporter and investigations lead at Sifted. She also co-authors Sifted's weekly Climate Tech newsletter. Follow her on X , LinkedIn and Bluesky