AI Model Maker Cohere Sees $500 Million Boost to Its Valuation
Cohere, a Toronto-headquartered artificial intelligence model maker, has secured an oversubscribed $500 million funding round, which has brought its valuation to $6.8 billion. This is a significant increase from its $5.5 billion valuation in 2023.
Founded in 2019 by co-founder Aidan Gomez, one of the authors of the influential “Attention Is All You Need” paper that laid the foundation for modern AI, Cohere has been making waves in the AI model wars. Despite being a relatively new entrant, it has secured partnerships with major enterprise tech companies, including Oracle, Dell, and SAP.
Cohere’s market proposition is focused on offering secure large language models (LLMs) specifically designed for enterprise use. The company claims to represent a security-first category of enterprise AI that is not being met by repurposed consumer models.
However, Cohere has also been involved in the recent talent poaching frenzy among AI companies. It recently hired long-time Meta research head Joelle Pineau as its chief AI officer and a new CFO away from his consulting gig at KPMG.
The $500 million funding round was led by Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital, with participation from existing investors such as AMD Ventures, Nvidia, and Salesforce Ventures. The company has also secured backing from major tech companies like Oracle and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
Cohere’s latest funding boost puts it in a competitive position to establish itself as a leading player in the AI model market. With its focus on security and enterprise use cases, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on growing demand for specialized AI solutions.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/14/cohere-hits-a-6-8b-valuation-as-investors-amd-nvidia-and-salesforce-double-down