'European OpenAI' Raises 900 Billion Won... Samsung and Nvidia Also Invest

Mistral Valued at 8.5 Trillion KRW in Corporate Valuation

European AI startup Mistral, regarded as an 'OpenAI rival' in Europe, has successfully raised 600 million euros (approximately 900 billion KRW) in funding, major foreign media including The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 11th (local time).

According to reports, Mistral secured 600 million euros (about 650 million USD) in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst, one of the largest venture capital firms in the United States. Series B typically refers to the stage where startups that have successfully launched products or services expand their market share. With this funding, Mistral's valuation reached 5.8 billion euros (8.5 trillion KRW), nearly tripling from 2 billion euros in December last year.

Arthur Mensch Mistral, Co-founder and CEO
Photo by Yonhap News

The lineup of participating companies in the funding round is also impressive. Alongside General Catalyst, investors include Nvidia, Samsung Venture Investment, Salesforce, IBM, and Cisco. However, Microsoft (MS), which invested 15 million euros (22 billion KRW) in Mistral as part of a commercial partnership in February, reportedly did not participate in this funding round.

Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO of Mistral, said in a statement, "Through this new funding round, we are uniquely positioned to push the boundaries of AI and deliver cutting-edge technology into the hands of everyone," adding, "It will help maintain the company's independence and facilitate expansion." The company stated that the proceeds from this funding will be used to increase computing capacity, hire staff, and expand its international presence in the United States.

Mistral was founded in April last year by former researchers from Google and Meta Platforms and gained market attention by partnering with Microsoft, which invested 13 billion USD in OpenAI. In February, Mistral launched its own generative AI, 'Le Chat,' similar to ChatGPT, making it available on Microsoft’s cloud service Azure, as well as Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS). All of these achievements were accomplished within one year of founding with about 60 employees. French President Emmanuel Macron praised Mistral as a symbol of 'French genius' and promised full government support.

Meanwhile, since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, igniting an AI arms race, big tech companies have been pouring money into generative AI development. xAI, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, recently raised 6 billion USD (8.3 trillion KRW). xAI, an AI startup founded by Musk in July last year, is aggressively pursuing OpenAI with its AI chatbot 'Grok.'