Mistral AI in Talks to Raise $1 Billion, Expanding its AI Cloud Services

Mistral is reportedly in talks to raise $1B | TechCrunch

French AI startup Mistral is in talks to raise up to $1 billion in equity from investors including Abu Dhabi's MGX fund, reports Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. Mistral is also talking to French lenders like Bpifrance SACA to raise hundreds of millions of euros in debt, per Bloomberg. TechCrunch has reached out to Mistral for comment. Mistral, makers of the Le Chat chatbot, is one of the most significant players in the European AI landscape with a focus on open-weight LLMs. The startup has raised $1.19 billion to date at a $6.51 billion post-money valuation, according to PitchBook. Its last fundraise was a Series B in June 2024. Mistral is already working with MGX - a government-backed $100 billion AI fund - and Nvidia to build Europe's largest AI data center campus. The UAE has also committed to spending €50 billion on AI projects in France, part of French President Emmanuel Macron's push for AI sovereignty.

Mistral in Talks With MGX, Others to Raise Up to $1 Billion

French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI is in talks to raise as much as $1 billion in equity from several investors including Abu Dhabi fund MGX, according to people familiar with the matter. Along with the equity financing, Mistral is in talks for hundreds of millions of euros in debt from French lenders including Bpifrance SACA, some of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Bpifrance is already a Mistral investor. The discussions are preliminary and subject to change, and it wasn't immediately clear what Mistral's valuation would be after an investment, the people said.

Report: Mistral AI in talks with MGX over $1B equity financing round - SiliconANGLE

Report: Mistral AI in talks with MGX over $1B equity financing round French artificial intelligence leader Mistral AI is reportedly holding talks with Dubai-based investor MGX and others over a $1 billion equity funding round that would include hundreds of millions of euros in debt. According to Bloomberg, which first reported the discussions, the debt would help to fund a new AI cloud service based in France called Mistral Compute. However, the discussions are still in their early stages and the details could change, Bloomberg said, citing unnamed sources. If the round goes ahead, it would deepen the existing ties between Mistral and MGX, which are already working together with Nvidia Corp. to build the largest data center campus in Europe. Mistral and Nvidia said last month the data center is just one element of an initiative that aims to build the next-generation cloud service, which is a key element of France's push for AI sovereignty. French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the collaboration while sitting on a panel at the Viva Tech 2025 conference last month, where he said it would be a "game-changer" for the country and strengthen its technological independence. Mistral Chief Executive Arthur Mensch was also sat on the panel, and he explained that the AI cloud would help to expand the company's business model. It's looking to move away from just developing large language models, and wants to be seen as more of a vertically integrated AI cloud provider. "We're still doing models, but on top of that we are going to be operating more of our software platform on digital assets that we're deploying together," he said. Mistral AI has had a lot of momentum lately, releasing a new family of Magistral "reasoning" models that take time to consider their responses. That came last month, just days after the company announced an AI coding assistant called Mistral Code, which is a rival to other AI programming systems such as GitHub's CoPilot. Earlier, in May, it launched the Agents API, which is an application programming interface for developers to build more sophisticated AI agents based on its LLMs, which can perform tasks autonomously for their users. Also in May, Mistral said it had tripled its revenue in the previous three months, with most of the growth coming from Europe and "outside of the U.S.", Mensch revealed to reporters. When pressed, he also insisted that the company has been "growing in the U.S. quite fast as well". Mistral does not disclose its revenue publicly, but according to one report, it generated more than $30 million in sales last year. The company was last valued at $6 billion in June 2024 after closing on a $640 million funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed, Bpifrance, BNP Paribas, Nvidia Corp., Samsung Venture Investment Corp., Salesforce Ventures LLC and others.

This $1B deal could make Mistral a true AI superpower

French AI startup Mistral is negotiating with investors, including Abu Dhabi's MGX fund, to secure up to $1 billion in equity funding, according to Bloomberg. Concurrently, Mistral is engaging with French financial institutions, such as Bpifrance SACA, to obtain several hundred million euros in debt financing. These discussions aim to bolster Mistral's financial position within the global artificial intelligence sector. Mistral, recognized for its Le Chat chatbot and its emphasis on open-weight large language models, holds a prominent position within the European AI landscape. The company has previously secured $1.19 billion in funding, achieving a post-money valuation of $6.51 billion, as reported by PitchBook. Its most recent fundraising round was a Series B completed in June 2024. Mistral has an existing collaboration with MGX, a government-backed AI fund with $100 billion in capital, and Nvidia. This partnership is focused on the development of Europe's largest AI data center campus. The United Arab Emirates has additionally committed €50 billion towards AI initiatives in France, supporting French President Emmanuel Macron's strategic objective of achieving AI sovereignty.

Report: Mistral Aims to Raise Financing for AI Cloud Service | PYMNTS.com

The debt would help fund an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud service in France called Mistral Compute, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (July 8), citing unnamed sources. The discussions are in their early stages and could change, according to the report. Neither Mistral AI nor MGX immediately replied to PYMNTS' request for comment. According to the Bloomberg report, the potential equity financing would deepen ties between France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the AI field, as Mistral AI is based in France and MGX is based in Abu Dhabi. The two companies have already partnered with Nvidia to build Europe's largest data center campus, the report said. When Mistral AI and Nvidia announced in June that they had partnered to develop next-generation AI cloud services in France, France took a major step forward in asserting its AI power, PYMNTS reported at the time. During a panel at the Viva Tech 2025 conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said the collaboration was "a game changer" and praised it as key to strengthening the country's technological independence. Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch said during the panel the AI cloud services project would expand Mistral's business model, with the company transitioning from merely being a model developer to a vertically integrated AI cloud provider. "We're still doing models, but on top of that, we are going to be operating more of our software platform on digital assets that we're deploying -- that we're deploying together," Mensch said. It was reported in May that Mistral AI had tripled the revenue of its business in about three months. "In the last 100 days, we have tripled our business, in particular in Europe and outside of the U.S.," Mensch told reporters. "We've been ... growing in the U.S. quite fast as well." Mistral AI, which is valued at $6 billion, does not publicly disclose its revenue, but had, by at least one account, revenues of $30 million last year.