OpenAI’s European rival Aleph Alpha raises €467M; backed by German giants Bosch, SAP

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Heidelberg, Germany-based Aleph Alpha, a developer of generative artificial intelligence, announced on Monday, November 6, that it has secured $500M (approximately €467M) in a Series B round of funding from a consortium of a total of seven new investors as well as existing investors.

The investment is led by the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (Ipai), Bosch Ventures, and the companies of Schwarz Group. 

Other new investors include Berlin-based Christ&Company Consulting, the global edge-to-cloud company Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and German multinational enterprise application software company SAP, as well as Burda Principal Investments. 

Existing institutional investors also participated, completing the oversubscribed round.

The announcement was made in the presence of the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Dr. Robert Habeck, and State Minister, Dr. Florian Stegmann, who shares our vision for sovereign European AI.

Fund utilisation

The German company will use the funds to advance its proprietary AI research, and accelerate the development and commercialisation of Generative AI for the most complex and critical applications, including data-sensitive industries like healthcare, finance, law, government, and security. 

The latest capital injection will enable Aleph Alpha to expand its academic partnerships and contributions. 

Jonas Andrulis, CEO and founder of Aleph Alpha, says, “With this latest investment, we will continue to enhance our capabilities and enable our partners to be at the forefront of this technological development. To empower customers, Aleph Alpha will continue to expand its offerings while maintaining independence and flexibility for customers in infrastructure, cloud compatibility, on-premise support, and hybrid setups.”

“The ongoing developments will extend interfaces and customisation options tailored to business-critical requirements. For customers with a significant responsibility and in strategic environments where sovereignty is at risk, we will remain the best option,” adds Jonas Andrulis.

This strategic investment will further strengthen the German and European AI position for the development of sovereign AI.

Aleph Alpha: Develops and operationalises large-scale AI models

Founded by Jonas Andrulis in 2019, Aleph Alpha was founded with the mission to research and build the foundational technology for an era of strong AI. 

The team of international scientists, engineers, and innovators researches, develops and deploys transformative AI like large language and multimodal models and runs the fastest European commercial AI cluster. 

Its generative AI solutions are the prime choice for enterprises and governmental institutions seeking to retain independence, secure their data, and build trustworthy solutions.

“Our commercial traction is motivating us to grow to meet our client’s demands and remain one of the best teams in Generative AI. Our partners are industry leaders who offer huge potential for innovation and scale, and we are committed to building these partnerships towards a leading position in their respective industries. Our unique explainability and trust technology plays a crucial role in this,” says Jonas Andrulis.

What do the investors have to say?

“Aleph Alpha will shape the future of Generative AI and set new standards for this key technology. As such, Aleph Alpha is a perfect fit with our sovereign Cloud and Cyber Security offerings STACKIT and XM Cyber. This technology will enable us to further optimize our digital services – both for the companies of Schwarz Group and our external customers,” says Rolf Schumann, Co-CEO of Schwarz Digits.

“Actively developing Generative AI will be crucial for Europe’s technological sovereignty. That’s why we at Bosch are opening fields of application and business models and playing a key role in shaping this cutting-edge technology together with other companies such as Aleph Alpha,” says Dr. Tanja Rückert, Member of the Board of Management and Chief Digital Officer of Robert Bosch GmbH.

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Vigneshwar Ravichandran

Vigneshwar has been a News Reporter at Silicon Canals since 2018. A seasoned technology journalist with almost a decade of experience, he covers the European startup ecosystem, from AI and Web3 to clean energy and health tech. Previously, he was a content producer and consumer product reviewer for leading Indian digital media, including NDTV, GizBot, and FoneArena. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Instrumentation in Chennai and a Diploma in Broadcasting Journalism in New Delhi.

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