Samsung, Nvidia, and BlackRock back Mistral AI in record €3B funding round

Paris-based AI startup Mistral AI has just secured a monumental €3 billion funding round led by Samsung, in addition to participation from the EU-backed Scaleup Europe Fund, EQT, and PSG Equity. The company, which was founded three years ago, has seen its valuation soar to €11.7 billion as of 2025, following a €1.7 billion Series C round led by ASML.

CEO Arthur Mensch revealed that the influx of capital will be primarily invested in expanding Mistral's data centers and computing capabilities, with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency in terms of computing resources. The company has already allocated €4 billion towards constructing data centers across France and Europe, with a facility already operational outside Paris and another under construction in Sweden.

Mistral has already established a presence among 125 enterprises in 20 countries and anticipates reaching €1 billion in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2026. Despite Mistral's impressive growth, Europe's AI sector remains significantly behind the global leader, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The company's valuation is considerably lower than that of its American counterparts, and European adoption of AI technologies stands at just 13.5%.

Other European AI players, such as Germany's Aleph Alpha, Switzerland's Apertus, and France's Helsing, are making strides but remain smaller in scale. The European Union has set ambitious targets, including a €200 billion investment pledge through the InvestAI initiative and the opening of tenders for up to seven AI gigafactories, with the aim of attracting over €30 billion in investment.

However, these ambitious plans are still several years away from realization, with the first AI factories expected to commence operations by 2028.