Paris-based generative AI startup Mistral AI said Tuesday that it has nearly doubled its valuation to more than $24 billion with a $3.5 billion Series D fundraise led by Samsung Electronics, according to Crunchbase News. The round included participation from co-leads Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, and existing investor PSG Equity, according to Crunchbase News.
Series D terms and recent valuation step-up
The financing comes nearly one year to the day after Mistral’s $2 billion Series C, which valued the company at $13.7 billion, according to Crunchbase News. Mistral has now raised $7.5 billion since its 2023 inception, according to Crunchbase News.
Mistral’s new raise means it retains its spot as the most highly valued foundation model company out of Europe, according to Crunchbase News. Crunchbase News reported that there are currently seven private frontier labs valued above $20 billion on The Crunchbase Unicorn board, with eight including China’s ByteDance, which is also building its own model, and that the rest are all based in the U.S. and China.
Use of proceeds and operating footprint
In a statement, the company said the new capital will “significantly expand Mistral’s frontier research” and help it “expand infrastructure and accelerate” its commercial growth and international footprint, according to Crunchbase News.
Mistral currently operates across 20 countries and counts more than 125 global enterprises as customers, including Airbus, ASML, BMW and HSBC, according to Crunchbase News.
Product positioning and competitive set
Mistral builds AI models for tasks such as generating text, writing code and analyzing documents, putting it in competition with U.S. companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, according to Crunchbase News.
Crunchbase News reported that, unlike many of its U.S. rivals, Mistral touts greater control for businesses by offering models they can customize and run on their own systems rather than relying entirely on a third-party cloud provider.
Europe venture and large AI rounds in 2026
Crunchbase News reported that this year has marked a turning point for European venture funding. In Q2, Europe posted its strongest quarter in four years for venture funding, Crunchbase data shows, according to Crunchbase News.
All told, Europe-based startups raised $24 billion in the quarter, up around a third quarter over quarter and two-thirds higher than the $14.4 billion raised in Q2 2025, according to Crunchbase News.
Crunchbase News reported that at the time of Mistral’s $2 billion Series C, that raise represented the largest venture round ever raised by a European AI company, and that the latest round has now eclipsed that.
Crunchbase News also reported that several other large AI-related deals in Europe have closed this year, including London-based Google spinoff Isomorphic Labs raising a $2.1 billion Series B in May led by Thrive Capital and AI data center provider Nscale raising a $2 billion Series C at a $14.6 billion valuation in March co-led by 8090 Industries and Aker, and that Nscale has also since raised several billion in debt financing per Crunchbase.
