Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Thursday that Canada plans a staged commercial equity investment of up to C$1.6 billion in Cohere, tying the funding to Canadian jobs and computing capacity as Cohere raises capital.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the commitment is approximately C$1.6 billion at most. Cohere pledged to create at least 1,000 new high-paying technical jobs in Canada and add at least C$1.7 billion in Canadian computing infrastructure by 2030. Other commitments include preserving Cohere’s Canadian incorporation and headquarters, supporting research and student programs, and maintaining its work with the Canadian AI Safety Institute.
The government described the investment as commercial and said Canada would receive an equity stake. It said the arrangement is intended to expand Canadian AI capacity, give businesses and governments more control over sensitive data, and let Canada share in Cohere’s success. The announcement did not specify the size or timing of each investment stage or the government’s ownership share.
Cohere said its Series E financing had reached an initial close and was targeting up to C$7 billion, a goal the company said would value it at C$35.7 billion. Germany’s Schwarz Group is the lead investor. Cohere listed Bell Ventures, Bullhound Capital and the Government of Canada as new investors, and Inovia Capital, NVIDIA and Prosperity7 Ventures as returning investors.
Reuters reported that Cohere had not disclosed how much of the round’s target was committed at the initial close or when it expected the financing to close.
At the close of the third quarter of 2026, Cohere said its annual recurring revenue was 165% higher than a year earlier. The company also put its customer count at 300, 20 times the level a year before.
The planned equity investment is separate from a federal contribution of up to C$240 million that Ottawa finalized on March 20, 2025, for a C$725 million Cohere computing project. Cohere also announced a planned combination with Germany’s Aleph Alpha in September. The company said the deal remains subject to regulatory approvals and that it plans to complete the combination within 12 months, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin.
