Startup Cohere Inc., which operates in the artificial intelligence industry, is currently in the late stages of discussing a new round of financing.
The media reports that receiving investment funds will increase the mentioned company’s market value to $5 billion. The startup is currently in talks to raise $500 million or more. This was reported by the media, referring to an insider who was aware of the relevant matter. The informant used the right of anonymity, noting that the negotiation process on additional investment in a startup is carried out in strict confidentiality. It is worth noting that the successful result of the specified efforts of Cohere is not guaranteed, but its probability is not zero and does not belong to the category of scenarios bordering on the impossible.
According to media reports, large investors from last year’s Series C financing round, in which the startup managed to raise $270 million, can participate in a potential deal. After this round, the company’s market value was fixed at more than $2.1 billion. The process of raising funds last year was led by Inovia Capital. Nvidia Corp., Salesforce Ventures, and Oracle Corp. also participated in the Series C financing round.
Currently, there is no information about when a new process of raising funds by Cohere may take place. It is worth noting that the media has already published data about the new round of financing, but nothing has happened since then. The startup refuses to comment on its intentions for the new fundraising.
Cohere was founded in 2019 in Toronto. The startup specializes in the development of large language models (LLM), which are software trained on huge amounts of data from the Internet space. These digital products can analyze information and generate content in the form of text materials. The startup also customizes LLM for its clients. Companies can use these digital products to solve tasks such as summarizing clients’ emails or helping to write a copy of a website.
Cohere co-founder and CEO Aidan Gomez is a former Google employee and one of the authors of a landmark 2017 article in the artificial Intelligence research area called Attention is All You Need. There is an opinion that the mentioned article has become a kind of scientific incentive for progress in the sphere of text analysis and generation by computers.
At the initial stage of its existence, Cohere demonstrated what can be described as rapid growth. The next round of startup financing was expected in August last year, but it did not happen. At that time, the media reported that Cohere interacts with banks to raise money. In September 2023, the startup opened a second headquarters.
As of March 2024, Cohere’s annual revenue was $22 million. The startup’s financial performance improved after the introduction of a new conversational artificial intelligence model called Command R in the current month.
It is worth noting that many investors are currently showing interest in the AI industry. Advanced technology is perceived by many experts as the main driving force behind the progress of human civilization on a global scale. Moreover, AI can become an effective working tool in many spheres of activity.
As we have reported earlier, AI Startup Cohere CEO Criticizes Movement for Self-Righteousness.
