Artificial intelligence startup iGenius seeks funding at €1.7 billion valuation

(Bloomberg) — Artificial intelligence startup iGenius, which wants to compete with OpenAI and other generative AI companies, is looking to raise 650 million euros ($698 million) at a post-money valuation of about 1.7 billion euros, said CEO Uljan Sharka. said on Monday.

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Completing a funding round at a so-called unicorn valuation would catapult the Italian startup into the elite ranks of hot, well-capitalized AI companies emerging from Europe, including France’s Mistral AI and Germany’s DeepL. IGenius is betting on investors’ continued enthusiasm to inject money into the sector, even as some industry veterans warn that further progress in fundamental models will mainly come from established players such as Meta Platforms Inc.

Milan-based iGenius has released a product known as “Italia,” which Sharka describes as a large, open-source foundational language model designed to be used by organizations in the financial services sector, among others.

The startup secured support with a pre-financial valuation of €1.05 billion from investors including Angel Capital Management – ​​the family office of Angelo Moratti – and Eurizon Asset Management, which is part of Eurizon Capital, Sharka said. It is also in ongoing negotiations with other potential investors, he added.

iGenius works with companies including Allianz SE, Aon Plc, Enel SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Sharka said. The objective is to reach 20 million euros in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2024, he added.

Italy’s privacy regulator temporarily banned OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the country in 2023 due to concerns that the company was collecting user data. The regulator concluded in January that OpenAI violated the privacy of Italian users.

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