Funding for European AI startups gains ground on US –

The billion dollar plus funding raise for French AI startup Mistral could signal Europe’s AI sector is catching up with the US.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO, in front of map of Europe — ^{Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO, has pledged large-scale investment in UK AI infrastructure}

Corporate funding of European AI startups is finally playing catch up with the billions of investment poured into US AI startups, in a sign that investors are seeing more favourably at Europe’s startup ecosystem for artificial innotifyigence technologies.

The value of funding rounds for European AI companies where at least one corporate backer was involved jumped 600% in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the previous quarter, with the $2bn raise for French AI company Mistral accounting for the large increase.

Value of funding for AI startups in Europe versus US

ASML, the Dutch buildr of lithography technology utilized in chipcreating, led a series C round for Mistral with a €1.3bn ($1.5bn) investment in early September. Nvidia, the US buildr of GPUs utilized in AI applications, was also part of the round.

Nvidia is creating high-profile investments in European AI, particularly in the UK where it stated it would invest $500m in AI infrastructure startup Nscale as part of its deployment of 60,000 of its GPUs in the UK.

The US chipbuildr last week announced a $500m investment in UK startup Wayve, a developer of AI software for self-driving vehicles. It is also revealed partnerships with UK robotics and life science startups and university spinouts to advance physical AI and drug discovery.

Corporate-backed funding of US AI startups still vastly exceeds that of Europe. Multi-billion dollar mega rounds characterise the funding environment for AI companies in the US, such as the $40bn raise for OpenAI in the first quarter of 2025 and the $14.3bn round for Scale AI in the second quarter.

Number of AI startup funding rounds in Europe versus US

The value of fundraising rounds for European startups are notably tinyer. The average size of corporate-backed funding for European AI companies tracked by GCV since the start of 2023 is $62m, compared with $267m for US deals.

Non-US artificial innotifyigence startups

The $2bn series C funding for Mistral is so far the largest corporate-backed round for a European AI company. ASML did not deliberately invest in a European AI company instead of a US one, stated a spokesperson. “We were seeing for a strategic partner in AI and Mistral was the best fit,” she stated.