EL7.AI
Mergers & AcquisitionsMedium•1 November 2026•
3 min read

Cohere’s Round Targets C$7 Billion With Government Investment and Equity Stake

Key Facts

1Cohere’s round targets up to C$7 billion at a potential valuation of C$35.7 billion.
2Cohere says its annual recurring revenue grew 165%, and its customer base reached 300 after rising 20-fold in a year.
3Cohere plans to invest at least C$1.7 billion in computing infrastructure in Canada by 2030.
4Schwarz Group companies made a structured funding commitment of 500 million euros to Cohere’s round.
5The combined company is expected to have more than 1,000 employees across the two continents.

Cohere announced an initial close of a Series E funding round targeting up to C$7 billion, which could value the company at C$35.7 billion, according to its announcement on October 29, 2026. The Canadian government is participating in the round with a commercial investment that gives it an ownership stake in the company, Reuters reported. That puts Ottawa among the investors in a Canadian artificial intelligence company, while the round is also intended to fund its expansion in models, products and computing. Prime Minister Mark Carney said the company would remain Canadian, with its incorporation and headquarters staying in the country. Chief Executive Aidan Gomez described the government investment as “a great honor.”

Schwarz Group companies are leading the funding round, while new investors include Bell Ventures, Bullhound Capital and the Canadian government, Cohere said. Inovia Capital, NVIDIA and Prosperity7 Ventures are also returning investors. Schwarz companies announced in April a structured funding commitment of 500 million euros for Cohere’s round, as its expected lead investor. That amount is a commitment to the round, not a disclosed purchase price for Aleph Alpha. The government’s entry is part of a broader funding round, not financing earmarked for the acquisition.

Cohere said the round’s proceeds would be used to develop its models and product roadmap, build end-to-end artificial intelligence solutions for regulated industries, and invest in long-term computing infrastructure. These priorities matter as the company expands its business base: it said annual recurring revenue grew 165% year over year at the end of the third quarter of 2026. It added that its customer base had grown 20-fold in a year to reach 300 customers. The company links rising demand for its solutions with the need to develop its products and computing capacity. It also plans to invest at least C$1.7 billion in new computing infrastructure in Canada by 2030, Carney said.

The planned combination with Aleph Alpha is proceeding separately from the funding round. On September 16, Cohere announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to combine businesses with the German company, and said completion of the deal was awaiting final regulatory approvals. Under the announced plan, the combined company will operate globally as Cohere, with co-headquarters in Toronto and Berlin, while Aleph Alpha’s Heidelberg office will remain a research hub. Cohere said the deal would bring the combined company’s workforce to more than 1,000 employees across the two continents. The information reported here did not disclose an acquisition price, and completion of the combination remains subject to regulatory approvals.