In a recent revelation, Arthur Mensch, Co-founder and CEO of Mistral, divulged that the French AI firm is heading towards an initial public offering (IPO). The announcement surfaced during an interview with Bloomberg at the prevalent World Economic Forum in Davos.
Mensch was emphatic that Mistral is not on the market for sale. Instead, he unveiled plans of burgeoning the company’s global footprint by setting up an office in Singapore, catering specifically to the burgeoning Asia-Pacific region. The company is also escalating in Europe and the U.S., he added, asserting an IPO is inevitably in the company’s roadmap.
Launched by Mensch in 2023, Mistral, known as the European equivalent to U.S. veterans like OpenAI, consists of a stellar team of former researchers from Google’s DeepMind and Meta. The AI lab routinely releases competitive AI models and services battling directly with the likes of OpenAI and their products. This includes a ChatGPT-inspired platform named ‘Le Chat’.
To date, Mistral has mobilized an impressive $1.14 billion in funding from a string of renowned investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Recently, Mistral’s valuation reportedly stood at a staggering $6 billion.
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