ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer, has contributed €1.3B into Mistral AI’s €2B series C round, becoming the top shareholders in the company.
Not only is Mistral AI among the few European deeptech unicorns, it has also quickly become Europe’s most valuable AI company at a €12 billion valuation. The move by ASML has been made to strengthen Europe’s tech sovereignty.
Veldhoven-based ASML is a crucial supplier of advanced chipmaking equipment. They make the lithography equipment needed for cutting-edge chip production and use AI to help make its tools more efficient. The company could benefit from implementing Mistral’s data analytics and AI capabilities to improve the performance of its tools and develop additional products.
This comes at a time when AI giants are battling for supremacy, and Mistral AI is often heralded as Europe’s champion. It also goes hand in hand with Europe’s push towards digital sovereignty and push towards developing a more robust semiconductor manufacturing industry. This deal will support both.
Mistral, backed by Nvidia, was valued at more than $6 billion after its Series B funding round last year and the Financial Times reported earlier this month that Mistral is in talks with MGX and other investors to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $10 billion.
Last week, Bloomberg News reported that Mistral’s funding round is set for a $14 billion valuation.
It was founded in 2023 by Arthur Mensch, a former DeepMind researcher, and ex-Meta researchers Timothée Lacroix and Guillaume Lample.
