Cohere raises at a C$35.7 billion valuation, and Canada buys a piece of it
Cohere announced the initial close of a Series E targeting up to CAD $7 billion on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, at a CAD $35.7 billion valuation, as Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Government of Canada will take an equity stake of up to CAD $1.6 billion.
This is industrial policy wearing a term sheet. Canada isn't just cheering for its AI champion, it's buying in, with strings attached: jobs, local compute and a promise not to pack up for San Francisco. Cohere gets a war chest and a sovereign-AI sales pitch that literally comes with a government. The catch is the word "targeting": a C$7 billion headline with an undisclosed amount actually in the bank. Watch the final close, and watch whether a German supermarket empire leading the round reads as "sovereign" to Canadian buyers.
Cohere announced the initial close of its Series E on Oct. 29, 2026. An initial close is the first money in a round that is still open. The round targets up to CAD $7 billion. Cohere says a full round at that size would value the company at CAD $35.7 billion. A Series E is a later round of private funding, named with a letter. A valuation is the price of the whole company. CAD is the Canadian dollar. Those figures are Cohere's, from its release the same day.
The companies of Schwarz Group lead. Schwarz Group owns the grocery chains Lidl and Kaufland. Its IT arm is Schwarz Digits. New investors are Bell Ventures, Bullhound Capital, and the Government of Canada. Returning investors are Inovia Capital, NVIDIA, and Prosperity7 Ventures. Those names are Cohere's.
Cohere calls it the largest private financing round ever by a Canadian technology company. That claim is Cohere's.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Government of Canada will buy an equity stake of up to about CAD $1.6 billion. Equity means a share of the company, not a grant. The money comes in stages, with regular reports on progress. The government calls it a commercial investment made alongside private investors. Those lines are the Prime Minister's Office.
Cohere's side of the bargain: at least 1,000 new technical jobs in Canada by 2030, and at least CAD $1.7 billion more computing infrastructure in Canada by 2030. Computing infrastructure is the machines that train and run the models. Cohere also agreed to keep its Canadian incorporation and its headquarters, and to keep working with the Canadian AI Safety Institute. Those commitments are from the government announcement.
Cohere says it ended the third quarter of 2026 with annual recurring revenue up 165% from a year earlier, and that its customer base grew 20 times over the past year, to 300 customers. Annual recurring revenue is the subscription money a company expects over a year, counted so a one-time deal does not inflate the number. Cohere did not publish a dollar figure for that revenue. Those growth lines are Cohere's.
The round follows Cohere's business combination with Germany's Aleph Alpha, the joining of the two companies. Christian Müller, chief executive of Schwarz Digits, called this investment "the next logical milestone" after that combination. That quotation is his, in Cohere's release.
Cohere did not say how much of the CAD $7 billion is already committed, or when the round will finally close.
Aidan Gomez, Cohere's chief executive, said, "Today we are announcing the initial close of our Series E, a record-setting round that marks the largest private capital raise in Canadian history." That quotation is his, in the release.
Evan Solomon, Minister of AI and Digital Innovation, said, "you should not have to leave Canada to build a company that succeeds around the world." That quotation is his, in the government announcement.
The picture is Prime Minister Mark Carney at a Cohere-branded podium in Montreal on Oct. 29, 2026, announcing Canada's investment. The credit is Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press, via CBC News.
In plain terms, Cohere on Thursday said the first close of a round aimed at CAD $7 billion values the company at CAD $35.7 billion, with Schwarz Group in the lead. Canada is buying a stake of up to CAD $1.6 billion, paid in stages, and Cohere is promising Canadian jobs, Canadian computers, and a headquarters that stays put. The company did not say how much of the CAD $7 billion is in the bank, and it did not give a dollar figure for revenue.