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October 2, 2024

AI startup Poolside raises $500m Series B

Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by the likes of DST Global and Nvidia

AI startup Poolside, which is building AI models that can create software code, has raised a $500m Series B ahead of publicly releasing its first product. 

The round was led by global investor Bain Capital Ventures; VC firm DST Global, as well as a number of enterprises such as Nvidia, HSBC Ventures, LG Technology Ventures and eBay Ventures also invested.

The raise comes just over a year after the company secured a $126m seed round.

According to previous reporting from Bloomberg, the fundraise gives Poolside a $3bn valuation. The startup declined to confirm.

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Poolside was created in the US but garnered a lot of attention when it opened a subsidiary in Paris last year. The startup raised its seed round from a number of investors in France including French billionaire Xavier Niel, business angels Rodolphe Saadé and Motier Ventures and investors such as Bpifrance, NewWave and Frst. 

The company says that it remains HQ’d in the US but has built a team across both continents, with a strong focus on applied research and engineering talent in Europe.

What does Poolside do?

Poolside is building AI tools that it says will one day match human capabilities in software development.

"We believe software development will be the first broad capability where AI will reach and surpass human-level intelligence,” cofounder Jason Warner said in a press release. 

The startup has not yet publicly released a product, but says that its first tool will act as an “intelligent code assistant” for developers, with more details will be released “in the coming weeks” — and that it is already working with a number of large enterprises.

The fresh capital will enable the company to grow the capabilities of its models and boost the commercialisation of its product. 

Daphné Leprince-Ringuet

Daphné Leprince-Ringuet is a reporter for Sifted based in Paris and covering French tech. You can find her on X and LinkedIn