French artificial intelligence company Mistral has raised €3 billion in a new investment round, marking the largest equity fundraising by a privately owned European technology company.
The deal values the three-year-old company at approximately €21 billion.
Mistral has emerged as one of Europe’s most prominent challengers to major US artificial intelligence companies and develops large AI models and services for businesses.
The latest funding round includes backing from Samsung Electronics and the EU-supported Scaleup Europe Fund, among other investors.
Mistral plans to use the money to expand its computing capacity, develop new artificial intelligence models and carry out further research.
The company is also expanding internationally and expects annual recurring revenue to reach around $1 billion by the end of this year.
The investment comes amid increasing efforts within Europe to develop its own AI technology and reduce reliance on technology developed in the United States and China.
