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Why Canada’s Cohere stake has struck a nerve
Canada's federal government takes a stake in AI firm Cohere through a 1.6 billion CAD investment.
Key points
- The federal government's commitment to Cohere is 1.6 billion CAD, part of a larger, planned Series E round.
- The investment is triple the size of the Canadian Tech Growth Fund and nearly equal to the envelope promised to all of Canadian VC.
- Some VCs still have questions about the deal's milestones and the control mechanisms it gives the government.
Why it matters. The deal signals a growing willingness of the government to take direct stakes in national tech champions, and Minister Evan Solomon says such equity investments won't be a one-off.
Canada's federal government this week committed 1.6 billion CAD to AI firm Cohere, likely its largest-ever federal equity investment in a single private tech company. The sum is part of a larger, planned Series E round and is triple the size of the Canadian Tech Growth Fund. AI Minister Evan Solomon told BetaKit that equity investments won't be a one-off, while VCs still question the deal's milestones and control mechanisms.
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Why Canada’s Cohere stake has struck a nerve
Plus: Wealthsimple and Solink raise big rounds. The post Why Canada’s Cohere stake has struck a nerve first appeared on BetaKit . Plus: Wealthsimple and Solink raise big rounds. If you were surprised by this week’s whopping federal investment in Canadian AI darling Cohere, you haven’t been paying attention—or reading enough BetaKit . It’s been a year since Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly declared , “We will build Cohere, and we will make it a Canadian champion,” signalling a dramatic shift in policy and tone under Prime Minister Mark Carney. This summer, the feds’ AI strategy confirmed their intent to help scale the country’s most promising AI firms by taking stakes in them. This week, the federal government cut the cheque. The $1.6 billion CAD commitment to Cohere likely represents its largest-ever federal equity investment in a single private tech company. That amount, part of a larger, planned Series E round, is triple the size of the similarly-purposed Canadian Tech Growth Fund, and nearly equal to the envelope the feds recently promised to all of Canadian VC . The feds’ fund manager turn has touched a nerve, with takes flying from across the spectrum of Canadian society. Tech leaders and nationalists have publicly celebrated the transaction as a win for both the AI model maker and Canada’s sovereign tech ambitions. Policy wonks have questioned the decision to place such .