Cohere completes initial Series E close, targeting C$7 billion

Toronto-based AI company Cohere has closed the initial portion of a Series E funding round that it hopes will reach C$7 billion. Announcing the financing on October 29, the company said the targeted round would give it a valuation of C$35.7 billion.

Companies belonging to Schwarz Group are leading the round. Canada’s government, Bell Ventures and Bullhound Capital are joining as new investors, while Nvidia, Inovia Capital and Prosperity7 Ventures have previously invested in Cohere. The company described the financing as a record for a privately funded Canadian technology business.

Cohere did not disclose how much funding had been committed. Chief financial officer Francois Chadwick told Bloomberg that the initial closing covered most of the target. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Cohere plans to retain its Canadian headquarters, Bloomberg reported.

Chief executive Aidan Gomez said Cohere intends to recruit for more than 1,000 new positions. The company said funding would also support model development, products serving regulated industries and computing capacity for frontier-model training.

Cohere reported annual recurring revenue growth of more than 165% over the year ending in September. It said its customer base expanded 20 times over a year to 300, including Bell Canada, Fujitsu, RBC and TD Bank. Chadwick declined to disclose a revenue figure or discuss possible listing plans with Bloomberg.

The company also plans to complete its combination with Germany’s Aleph Alpha and its acquisition of cybersecurity startup AISLE within the next 12 months, its co-founders said. AISLE is to become Cohere Cyber.