Cohere to acquire Aleph Alpha as Canadian AI lab expands into Europe
Cohere announced Friday that it will acquire German AI startup Aleph Alpha, with Schwarz Group - a major backer of the German company - committing $600 million to Cohere's Series E funding round. The deal is expected to close in 2026, pending regulatory approval.
The acquisition gives Cohere immediate access to Europe's largest economy and established relationships with German government agencies. Aleph Alpha works with the German ministry for digital affairs and state modernization, as well as the Baden-Württemberg regional government.
Why this matters for regulated industries
Cohere plans to use Aleph Alpha's infrastructure and customer base to expand its AI for Finance offerings and other secure, customized AI solutions for highly regulated sectors. The company targets public sector, finance, defense, energy, manufacturing, telecommunications, and healthcare clients.
Aleph Alpha's experience deploying AI systems with long-standing government and enterprise customers provides the operational foundation Cohere needs to compete in these sectors, where data sovereignty and security are non-negotiable.
The numbers
Cohere has raised $1.6 billion to date from investors including Nvidia and AMD. The company was valued at $7 billion in 2025.
Aleph Alpha raised more than $600 million in investor and grant funding since its 2019 founding, according to Dealroom.
The pitch
Aidan Gomez, Cohere's cofounder and CEO, said the deal "accelerates our global expansion and advances our mission to deliver sovereign AI to nations around the world."
Ilhan Scheer, Aleph Alpha's co-CEO, framed the acquisition as a way to give European institutions "access to powerful, yet controllable AI they can truly own" - positioning the combined company against U.S.-based AI providers.
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
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