Nvidia Leads $500M Investment in Cohere, Boosting Valuation to $6.8B

Toronto, August 15, 2025 — Cohere, a leading developer of enterprise-grade large language models (LLMs), announced today the completion of a $500 million funding round co-led by Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital. The investment saw participation from major tech investors including Nvidia, AMD Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures, propelling the company's valuation from $5 billion to $6.8 billion.

Image source note: The image is AI-generated, and the image licensing service is Midjourney

Expanding AI Capabilities

Founded in Toronto, Cohere has gained recognition for its Command series of LLMs, with its flagship model, Command A, launched in March 2025. The company claims its models rival OpenAI's GPT-4 in performance while delivering 75% faster response times. Beyond language models, Cohere offers embedding technology that converts documents into neural network-friendly numerical formats, capable of processing multi-modal records and documents up to 200 pages long.

Enterprise clients can access Cohere's technology through cloud APIs or opt for on-premise deployment with an "isolated configuration"—a security-focused option that restricts model access to internal infrastructure only.

Growth and Leadership Changes

The funding follows a period of significant growth for Cohere. Industry reports indicate the company expects annualized revenue to exceed $200 million by year-end, nearly doubling its February figures. Alongside the funding announcement, Cohere revealed two key executive appointments:

• Joelle Pineau, former head of Meta's FAIR machine learning lab, joins as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer
• Francois Chadwick, ex-Uber executive, assumes the role of Chief Technology Officer

Pineau stated her focus will include advancing Cohere's newly launched AI productivity platform North, which automates tasks like data synchronization through AI agents. She also hinted at potential recruitment from Meta's machine learning research teams.

The appointment of Chadwick—a veteran of Uber's pre-IPO phase—has fueled speculation about Cohere preparing for its own public offering.

Strategic Moves Ahead

The fresh capital is expected to fuel acquisitions following Cohere's recent purchase of Vancouver-based Ottogrid, an AI firm specializing in market research acceleration. Industry analysts suggest the funding positions Cohere to expand its market share amid intensifying competition in the enterprise AI sector.

Key Points:

• 💰 $500M investment raises Cohere's valuation to $6.8B
• 🚀 Models compete with GPT-4 while offering 75% faster responses
• 👥 New leadership signals focus on research expansion and potential IPO preparation
• 🔍 Funds likely earmarked for strategic acquisitions to bolster market position