Cohere says Series E initial close targets up to C$7 billion at C$35.7 billion valuation; Canada plans equity investment of up to C$1.6 billion

Cohere said on Thursday it has announced the initial close of its Series E funding round, targeting up to C$7 billion, which would represent a C$35.7 billion valuation, according to the company’s news release. Commitments to date include companies of Schwarz Group as lead investor. New investors include Bell Ventures, Bullhound Capital and the Government of Canada, while Inovia Capital, Nvidia and Prosperity7 Ventures are returning investors, Cohere said.

The Globe and Mail reported that Cohere “has secured most of a planned $7-billion financing” in a deal that would value the company at $35.7 billion; the Globe’s figures match the Canadian-dollar amounts in Cohere’s release. The Globe called it the largest financing by a Canadian startup in history. Cohere’s release does not say how much of the C$7 billion has been secured. Cohere’s release calls it the largest private financing round ever undertaken by a Canadian technology company. The Globe said that once completed, the round would make Cohere the country’s most valuable privately held technology company.

The Prime Minister’s news release said Canada will make an equity investment of up to approximately $1.6 billion in Cohere, in stages, with regular reporting on progress against Cohere’s commitments. It described the investment as commercial and announced alongside private investors including Nvidia, Bell and Schwarz Group. The release gives its dollar figures without a currency label. The Globe, whose unlabeled dollar figures in the story match Cohere’s Canadian-dollar amounts, reported the stake as $1.6 billion, which is C$1.6 billion on that basis.

The release said Cohere will create at least 1,000 new Canadian technical jobs by 2030 and commit at least $1.7 billion to additional computing infrastructure in Canada by 2030. The release does not label the currency of that figure. It said Cohere will also maintain its Canadian incorporation and headquarters and keep working with the Canadian AI Safety Institute.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in the release: “The bigger and faster Cohere can scale up their models and operations, the more businesses and governments can control where sensitive data is stored, how it is used, and who can access it.” The quote ends: “It is in all our interests for Cohere to succeed, and now all Canadians will have a share in that success.” The Globe reported that Carney called the round a “vote of confidence” in Cohere and Canada at a press conference.

Cohere chief financial officer Francois Chadwick told the Globe the financing is necessary for the company to invest in compute infrastructure, develop its AI models and expand globally. “Canada needs to be there at the forefront,” he said. Cohere said it ended the third quarter of 2026 with 165% year-over-year ARR growth and has grown its customer base 20 times over the past year to 300 customers.

The Globe first reported last month that Cohere had told investors it was in advanced talks to raise as much as US$3 billion at a US$20 billion valuation (earlier report on those talks). Those figures are in U.S. dollars and are not directly comparable to the Canadian-dollar figures announced Thursday.

Cohere says Series E initial close targets up to C$7 billion at C$35.7 billion valuation; Canada plans equity investment of up to C$1.6 billion

Sources