Cohere just pulled in another $500 million, pushing its valuation to $6.8 billion as the Canadian AI startup inches closer to what’s looking like an inevitable IPO. The round was led by Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital, with heavy backing from AMD Ventures (NASDAQ:AMD), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), PSP Investments, Salesforce Ventures (CRM) and a handful of new investors.
The fresh cash will go toward ramping up its agentic AI tools software built to make businesses and governments more efficient by automating repetitive work. We’re at a pivotal moment, CEO Aidan Gomez said, adding that the new funding sets the stage for the company’s next phase of growth.
Cohere’s also bringing in serious muscle for that next chapter. Joelle Pineau, former VP of AI Research at Meta and a McGill University professor, joins as Chief AI Officer. Francois Chadwick, Uber’s (UBER) ex-CFO during its IPO push, takes over as finance chief. Both bring the kind of big-league experience that could help Cohere make the leap to the public markets.
For investors, the mix of fresh capital, a stronger exec team, and fast-rising valuation sends a clear message: Cohere’s gearing up to play in the AI big leagues.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.