Mistral AI, a prominent European AI startup based in Paris, has secured new contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, leading to a notable improvement in its business prospects.

This progress could potentially support the company in a prospective funding round of up to one billion dollars planned for this year.

Mistral aims to compete with American and Chinese firms and has recently benefitted from a growing European initiative to nurture regional technology leaders.

According to sources familiar with the company's financial situation, Mistral's revenues have reportedly surged several times since its last funding round a year ago and are on track to surpass 100 million dollars for the first time, provided it maintains its sales momentum.

Most of this growth is driven by a handful of large clients, with reports indicating that Mistral has secured or nearly secured several commercial contracts valued at no less than 100 million dollars each over three to five-year terms.

Companies and public sector clients, as well as defense customers outside the United States, are increasingly seeking alternatives to American technology providers following the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Arthur Mench, CEO of Mistral, stated, "There are many European companies that wish to reduce their dependency on American service providers...

and there is a growing demand for strategic autonomy." This demand has prompted Mistral, which received a valuation of approximately 6 billion euros in its last funding round a year ago, to engage in an ambitious program to expand its AI infrastructure.

This expansion began with the acquisition of a large data center located outside of Paris and partnerships with two Abu Dhabi-based technology and investment firms, G24 and MGX.

Insiders reported that Mistral, which has already raised over one billion dollars since its establishment two years ago, is considering raising additional funding around one billion dollars or more to support this expansion.

The company has begun approaching potential investors, although it is unlikely to officially initiate the funding process until later this year.

Mistral declined to comment on its financial performance or capital-raising plans.

However, the company, supported by Nvidia and co-founded by three former researchers from Meta and Google DeepMind, is significantly behind its American competitors, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, in both funding and commercial rollout.

Mistral's open AI models, which can be customized by clients for their applications, face competition from China's DeepMind and Meta's LLaMA.

Nevertheless, ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Europe, coupled with a global desire for countries to build and operate their own AI infrastructure, may present substantial advantages for Mistral, which reported generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue last year.

The recent contracts secured by Mistral are based on a model agreement established with French shipping and logistics company CMA CGM, valued at 100 million euros.

When the contract was announced in April, Rodolphe Saadé, CEO of CMA CGM, stated that the two companies would collaborate to develop "custom-designed AI systems."

Mistral, which currently employs around 250 staff members, has significantly expanded its commercial team in recent months.

The company has adopted a sales model akin to that of American data provider Palantir, employing a team of "solution engineers" who operate as consultants for each client, advising them on the optimal ways to integrate AI into their businesses.

While this may result in a longer sales cycle compared to traditional enterprise software contracts, the potential reward is greater.

Mistral's existing clients include BNP Paribas, AXA, Stellantis, and Veolia, and the company has partnered with European defense technology startup Helsing.

Mench highlighted recently, "Sovereignty is not our core business; we are a global company.

Therefore, over the past 100 days, our business has tripled, particularly in Europe and outside the United States."