South Korean conglomerate Samsung is in talks to invest up to €1bn in French AI darling Mistral, as part of the company’s ongoing fundraising round, according to a new report.
Mistral is reportedly currently raising a €3bn Series D at a €20bn valuation. According to the Financial Times, which cites people familiar with the matter, Samsung is discussing a major investment in the French company. The talks are ongoing, however, and terms could still shift.
One source with direct knowledge confirmed to Sifted that Samsung is in talks to back the Series D. Mistral declined to comment and Samsung did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Sifted previously reported that Swedish investment firm EQT is also in talks to lead or co-lead the Series D via the Scaleup Europe Fund — a €5bn pot of money launched by the European Union last year to address the region’s lack of late-stage capital.
Mistral, 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.
The scaleup has raised more than $3.5bn in debt and equity to date. It last secured equity funding less than a year ago when it raised a €1.7bn Series C led by Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML.
A strategic investment
Samsung is one of the world’s largest producers of memory chips, which are key components to train AI models. Recent months have seen growing shortages of memory chips as the market comes under pressure from the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure across the world.
An investment from Samsung would therefore provide Mistral with a significant strategic asset. In June, US AI giant Anthropic similarly announced a strategic investment from US memory maker Micron.
Mistral, however, remains a much smaller player than its US and Chinese 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.
