European artificial intelligence (AI) company Mistral announced on September 8 that it has secured €3 billion (approximately $4.68 billion) through a Series D funding round.
Mistral was co-founded in 2023 in Paris by Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample, and Timothée Lacroix, who previously worked at Google DeepMind and Meta. With this funding round, Mistral's valuation has surpassed €21 billion (about $32.8 billion), setting a record for the largest equity investment raised by a European tech company within three years of its founding.
Samsung Electronics led this investment round, with the EQT-managed ScaleUp Europe fund and existing investor PSC Equity also participating as co-lead investors. New investors included Advent, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Existing investors, including NVIDIA, continued their support.
Mistral plans to use the investment to significantly enhance its infrastructure and product development, focusing on strengthening its frontier research capabilities that underpin its Sovereign AI strategy. As companies seek to leverage AI while maintaining control over their data and infrastructure, Mistral aims to target this demand with a full-stack strategy and an open approach.
Particularly, Mistral will emphasize its 'Sovereign AI Layer' as a core competitive advantage, leveraging its full-stack capabilities that encompass everything from open-weight models to infrastructure, computing resources, and products applicable in real-world environments.
The investment will be utilized for expanding computing resources for cutting-edge AI model research and infrastructure, as well as for business expansion and entry into global markets. Mistral currently operates in 20 countries and supports the AI transformation of over 125 global companies, including Airbus, ASML, and HSBC.
Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO of Mistral, stated, "The real challenge companies face is implementing AI in complex environments where their own data, operational systems, and compliance requirements are intertwined. With this investment, we will accelerate our investments in R&D, products, and infrastructure, continuously supporting businesses and institutions to operate AI at scale in their respective environments."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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