Cohere closed the first part of a Series E aimed at up to CAD 7 billion, with the Government of Canada among the new investors

Cohere announced on October 29 the initial close of its Series E, a round it is targeting at up to CAD 7 billion. The Toronto company says the round values it at CAD 35.7 billion and calls it the largest private financing ever undertaken by a Canadian technology company. The Globe and Mail reports it secured most of the funding already, and that a CAD 35.7 billion valuation would make Cohere the country's most valuable private tech company.

Germany's Schwarz Group is the lead investor. New backers include the Government of Canada, Bell Ventures and Luxembourg's Bullhound Capital, while Nvidia, Inovia Capital and Saudi Aramco's Prosperity7 Ventures are returning. Ottawa's piece is up to CAD 1.6 billion, an unusual direct equity stake. BetaKit reports it comes through the Canada Development Investment Corporation and will be staged against milestones, with jobs and revenue targets key, according to AI minister Evan Solomon.

There are strings attached. The Globe and Mail reports Cohere committed to spend CAD 1.7 billion building compute infrastructure in Canada by 2030, to stay headquartered there, and to double its headcount as part of the federal deal. Prime Minister Mark Carney said that under the agreement Cohere will stay Canadian. CEO Aidan Gomez said the funding will make Cohere the largest AI company outside the United States.

Cohere reports 165% year over year growth in annual recurring revenue for the period ending Q3 2026 and a customer base that grew 20 times to 300 clients. It names customers including RBC, TD Bank, Bell Canada, Fujitsu and PwC. The Globe and Mail adds context: Cohere is far smaller than OpenAI and Anthropic, and industry rankings show its models lagging on coding and cybersecurity, a gap Gomez has acknowledged.

For developers, the money funds compute and models aimed at regulated sectors, plus its North agent platform, which lets workers at corporate and government clients set up agents for tasks such as financial analysis and coding. Cohere has also open sourced many recent models, and the Globe and Mail says it sells itself as a sovereign alternative to US and Chinese providers. Cohere is also finishing a merger with Germany's Aleph Alpha and recently agreed to buy Aisle, a Prague cybersecurity startup.

The round is not fully closed. Cohere's CFO Francois Chadwick said the company was oversubscribed and has kept the investment open, with plans to close soon. Reported headline figures differ by outlet and currency, so check whether a number is Canadian or US dollars before quoting it. Watch for the final close and for what the government milestones say about how sovereign AI deals get structured.

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