European AI startup Mistral AI has raised a total of $830 million in debt financing in a bid to expand its data center presence across the EU. The money will be used to buy a total of 13,800 NVIDIA chips, which will be used as part of an AI infrastructure buildout close to Paris.
“Scaling our infrastructure in Europe is critical to empower our customers and to ensure AI innovation and autonomy remain at the heart of Europe,” said CEO Arthur Mensch in a statement shared with Reuters.
The update comes amid a swell in funding for AI startups all across the world. This latest round of financing is expected to support one of Europe’s largest AI startups, as countries around the globe race to establish dominance in this sector.
Last year, Mistral AI received from ASML—a global leader in the manufacturing of lithography machines used in the chip-making process—an investment of 1.3 billion euros, which was a stake of 11% at the time.
Mistral secured its debt financing from a consortium of banks, including BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, HSBC, and MUFG. The company plans to open a second facility in Sweden, as per an announcement made last month as part of larger plans to gain 200 MW of capacity in Europe by the end of 2027.