Paris-based Mistral is set to acquire Austrian startup Emmi AI, which develops foundational models to carry out simulations of complex engineering processes.
The move seals the French company’s second acquisition in three months, confirming previous Sifted reporting that Mistral plans to accelerate growth through M&A. In February the scaleup acquired French startup Koyeb, which provides a platform to simplify the deployment of applications in the cloud.
Mistral launched in 2023 to build open source foundational AI models for enterprises, and is considered one of Europe’s most promising companies in the field. In the three years since launching, it has raised nearly €2.8bn and reached a valuation of €11.7bn.
What is Emmi AI?
Created just over a year ago, Emmi builds foundational AI models trained with the laws of physics, capable of simulating complex engineering processes for industrial applications.
The startup’s technology, dubbed large engineering models (LEMs), can simulate things like fluids moving around a plane wing, or how the structure of a car dents in a crash, with applications in fields ranging from aerospace and automotive to energy and semiconductors.
LEMs can carry out simulations in real-time, according to the company, whereas they can take several days to complete using traditional technologies.
Last year Emmi raised a €15m seed round.
The acquisition will help Mistral improve its technology for engineering and manufacturing use cases.
“This strategic acquisition cements Mistral’s leadership in industrial AI and positions us as the partner of choice for manufacturers in high-stakes sectors like aerospace, automotive, or semiconductors,” said Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch in a statement. “It empowers our customers with a fully integrated platform to solve complex challenges, transform core research and development (R&D) processes, and accelerate high-value innovation.”
Mistral’s customers include French shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM, Dutch automaker Stellantis and semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML.
The move also shows the French scaleup is planning to develop specialised AI models for certain verticals. US tech giants like Anthropic have been building tools for specific industries including legaltech; the company is now reportedly working on a vibe coding product as well.
“Mistral is interested in having a vertical play, where it has historically been more of a horizontal player,” says Guillaume Decugis, a partner at French VC Serena, which backed Emmi’s seed round. “We’ve seen with Anthropic that the specialisation of frontier labs can hugely pay off.”
Emmi’s team of more than 30 employees will join Mistral at the end of the month, with more hires in Austria, Germany and Lithuania to follow. The financial details of the operation were not disclosed but Decugis says the Austrian startup’s valuation is “significant”.
Mistral’s M&A strategy
Last year Mistral recruited a strategic operations and corporate development associate in charge of M&A. Sources told Sifted at the time that acquisitions were becoming a strategic priority for the scaleup as the global AI race heats up.
In 2025 OpenAI acquired five companies, including product testing startup Statsig, which it bought for $1.1bn, and AI hardware developer io, acquired for $6.5bn.
The acquisition of Emmi reflects an unusual approach to M&A in Europe, says Decugis.
“A young company like Mistral, very highly-valued, which makes a bet and accepts to acquire a startup at a premium price and very rapidly, just one year after its seed — this is the kind of cycle you see in San Francisco rather than in Europe,” says Decugis.
