Paris has quickly established itself as a major European center for AI startups, and now another deal in the works could cement that position even further.
Poolside.ai, a generative AI company based out of Paris that is building tools to speed up software development, is in the process of raising at least $400 million, on a post-money valuation of $2 billion, sources tell TechCrunch.
Bain Capital Ventures and DST are in talks to co-lead the round at the moment, sources tell us. BCV is a previous backer of the company, and DST is a new investor. Bain’s participation has been previously reported, with PitchBook noting this to be an estimated $450 million round.
Poolside made a splash (ahem) last August when it became yet another AI startup in the city to raise a big seed round. It picked up $126 million from backers that included, in addition to BCV, early stage specialists like London’s Air Street, Abstraction and Scribble Ventures, and New Wave and Frst from France. Bpifrance, Felicis, Point Nine, and Redpoint were also in the round. None of the investors we contacted would comment for this story. Poolside’s CEO did not respond to our request for comment.
Mistral and H, two foundational model companies, are among those that have also raised 9-figure seed rounds (respectively $113 million and $220 million) out of the city. The City of Light might need to be renamed the City of AI at this rate.
Looking at the bigger picture, it feels at times like the market has gotten very overheated, very fast, for AI startups, which collectively are raising many of billions of dollars when you also include the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI. Do we need another foundational AI company, you might ask?
There are a number of reasons why Poolside is getting this level of funding to take its own big swing at the generative AI opportunity:
Content Courtesy – Tech Crunch
