Mistral, the Paris-based scaleup developing AI models and infrastructure, is reportedly in talks to raise €3bn at a valuation of around €20bn.
The French company, which launched in 2023 to provide a European alternative to foundational model providers in the US, is in a race to compete against tech giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as fast-growing Chinese AI players.
Upon completion, the new round would bring total funding raised by the three-year-old company to €6.5bn (including debt and equity). Mistral last raised equity funding when it secured a €1.7bn Series C at an €11.7bn valuation less than one year ago.
According to a Bloomberg report, which cites people familiar with the deal, discussions are still at an early stage and both the funding amount and valuation are subject to change.
Mistral declined to comment.
Since launching Mistral has quickly become synonymous with Europe’s ambition to compete in the global AI race. The scaleup has enjoyed strong political support and secured partnerships with high-profile European players, including Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML, which led the company’s Series C with a €1.3bn investment.
Like its competitors the French scaleup has huge compute needs, and last year it announced it would start building its own AI infrastructure, in a similar move to US giants like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Dubbed Mistral Compute, the initiative is also intended to serve the needs of Mistral’s customers in Europe, and of third-parties looking to access compute capacity.
The scaleup raised $830m in debt funding earlier this year to fund the first steps of its data centre buildout, and laid out plans to build up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of capacity in Europe by 2030.
Mistral, however, remains a significantly smaller player compared to some of its competitors. Anthropic recently secured $65bn in Series H funding at a $965bn post-money valuation, a month after OpenAI announced a $122bn raise at a $852bn post-money valuation.
