AI start-up Cohere has raised $500 million in a series D funding round.

Co-founded by ex-Google researchers in 2019, Cohere specialises in large language models built on transformer architecture and trained on supercomputers, seeking to provide NLP solutions that don’t require ML development.

The fundraising was led by the Canadian pension investment firm PSP Investments and a number of new investors, including Cisco Systems, Fujitsu, AMD’s venture arm AMD Ventures, Magnetar, and Export Development Canada.

The firm started its capital raise race in June 2023, securing $270 million from Inovia Capital and others.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the round marks a jump in valuation for the start-up to $5.5 billion, as the firm secures a total commitment of $970 million.

Cohere said the capital will help it focus on developing secure and scalable enterprise-grade AI technology that can increase productivity and efficiency for businesses on a global scale, addressing “real-world problems” across a range of industries.

The firm highlighted in a Facebook post that the latest round represents a “testament to its core mission - serving as trusted AI partner to enterprises across the world”.

The capital raise will also support the team’s expansion, as the firm plans to increase its workforce to 250 employees this year, said Bloomberg.

At the end of March, Cohere recorded $35 million in annualised revenues, citing an increase from its revenues in 2023 which amounted to around $13 million, according to the report.

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