By Key Points
- Cohere Valuation Soars to $6.8B as AMD and Nvidia Double Down
- Investors include AMD, Nvidia, Salesforce, and others
- Enterprise-first AI strategy drives interest and growth
- Hires top talent from Meta and Uber to strengthen leadership
Cohere just pulled off one of the most surprising moves in the AI world. The Toronto-based company has raised $500 million in a new funding round, pushing its valuation to $6.8 billion, a sharp jump from the $5.5 billion it reached just over a year ago.
This round wasn’t just large, it was oversubscribed, meaning more investors wanted in than there was room for. And the names backing Cohere are some of the biggest in tech: AMD Ventures, Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan all joined in.
BREAKING: Cohere just raised $500 million at $6.8 billion valuation
> also hired Joelle Pineau, META AI research leader
we are so back pic.twitter.com/dyXxaUqbqZ
— NIK (@ns123abc) August 14, 2025
Founded in 2019 by Aidan Gomez, one of the authors of the landmark “Attention Is All You Need” paper, Cohere has focused on building secure, enterprise-grade language models, not consumer-facing tools like ChatGPT.
Unlike its rivals, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, which have been chasing consumer attention, Cohere has kept a low profile. But that strategy seems to be paying off. Its model is clear: help big companies use AI safely, privately, and at scale.
And the market wants it.
Cohere now has partnerships with Oracle, Dell, SAP, LG CNS, Fujitsu, and Bell, among others. Even RBC, a leading Canadian bank, is on board. But one interesting twist: Oracle, a previous investor, was not mentioned in this latest round.
cohere lives on, raises at $6.8B
their positioning: “a security-first category of enterprise ai that is simply not being met by repurposed consumer models” https://t.co/fOgR6ZYIIo pic.twitter.com/w0CN2ckAJ7
— morgan — (@morqon) August 14, 2025
Oracle has been leaning more toward OpenAI, especially through its massive Stargate data center project — a move that mirrors broader trends, as seen in the recent GPT-5 rollout challenges that signal the growing complexity of generative AI platforms.
Cohere brings in elite talent to power its next phase
With fresh funding and attention, Cohere is also making moves internally.
In a bold recruitment win, it just hired Joelle Pineau, formerly Meta’s top AI research lead, as its Chief AI Officer. Her deep research experience gives Cohere a major boost in credibility and positions it to compete technically with some of the top names in the space.
They also brought on Francois Chadwick as Chief Financial Officer. Chadwick brings decades of financial experience, having worked at Uber, Shield AI, and, more recently, at KPMG as a consultant.
AI lab @cohere just announced it has raised $500M at a $6.8B valuation 👀
Last week, I spoke with CEO @aidangomez about its big product launch of the year, agents platform North.
Aidan is always a thoughtful interview. It’s still worth reading here 👇https://t.co/vDWQyd0OyO pic.twitter.com/6vEKEvHwnO
— Alex Konrad (@alexrkonrad) August 14, 2025
His hire signals that Cohere is preparing to scale aggressively while keeping a strong eye on financial discipline.
Behind the scenes, the funding round was led by Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital. Radical is known for backing ambitious AI projects like Hebbia, Writer, and World Labs, while Inovia is a Canadian heavyweight with investments in names like Poolside and Neo4j.
What makes Cohere’s rise especially fascinating is its positioning. It’s aiming to become the go-to platform for secure AI in the enterprise. The company even took a jab at rivals in its press release, stating that repurposing consumer AI models for business use doesn’t meet the high bar for security and privacy.
6 years after our founding investment in @cohere, we are very proud to co-lead a new $500M round & deepen our partnership with @aidangomez, @nickfrosst, @1vnzh & team. Its data-secure AI for enterprise + govt makes it 1 of a handful of the fastest growing companies (by rev) ever. https://t.co/iIeeIjSMRd
— Jordan Jacobs (@JordanJacobs10) August 14, 2025
This bold claim aligns with growing enterprise concerns about data protection, compliance, and governance when using generative AI tools, particularly as companies reevaluate tools like Microsoft Lens, which recently shocked users with its sudden retirement.
Enterprise-grade AI gains traction in a noisy market
Cohere’s approach taps into a growing sentiment among large companies: the need for customizable, safe AI systems that can be deployed behind firewalls, comply with strict regulations, and avoid sending sensitive data to the cloud.
In contrast, most of the mainstream AI models today are designed for public use, often trained on massive internet datasets, and hosted in the cloud — a big concern for industries like finance, healthcare, and government.
By carving out a niche in enterprise-first AI, Cohere is not just attracting money; it’s drawing serious attention from customers who want AI that works on their terms.
The AI market today is flooded with tools, hype, and noise. What’s becoming clearer is that AI isn’t one-size-fits-all. Cohere seems to understand this better than most.
Their pitch is simple but powerful: “We build large language models designed for real enterprise use cases, not flashy demos.” And with investors like Nvidia and AMD betting on their future, despite recent U.S. pressure on Nvidia’s AI chip sales, it’s clear that Cohere’s quiet strategy is making loud waves.
Meanwhile, tech giants continue innovating at lightning speed. Microsoft, for example, is pushing boundaries with tools like its new 365 Companion Apps, aimed at integrating productivity and AI, a space where Cohere may offer backend power rather than public-facing tools.
And as new devices like the Pixel 10 Pro Fold hint at an AI-driven hardware future, Cohere’s focus on enterprise software keeps it grounded in business needs, not consumer trends.
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