What’s up with… Nozomi Networks, Mistral AI, Nebius & Microsoft

• Mitsubishi Electric snaps up OT security software vendor Nozomi Networks 
• Mistral AI confirms ASML as lead investor in €1.7bn funding round
• AI infrastructure specialist Nebius lands $17.4bn Microsoft deal

In today’s industry news roundup: Mitsubishi Electric is fuelling its security strategy with the $883m acquisition of operational technology (OT) and IoT security specialist Nozomi Networks; French GenAI giant Mistral AI confirms its latest funding round details; Microsoft is to spend north of $17bn over five years on accessing GPU clusters that are being built in New Jersey by AI infrastructure specialist Nebius; and much more!

Nozomi Networks, a leading developer of OT (operational technology), IoT (internet of things) and CPS (cyber-physical systems) security software that counts BT Group, Orange Cyberdefense and Telefónica Tech among its managed security service provider (MSSP) partners, is being acquired by Mitsubishi Electric in a deal that values Nozomi at $950m. Mitsubishi Electric already held a 7% stake in the company from its participation in Nozomi’s $100m funding round in March 2024, and now it is paying $883m for the 93% of the shares it didn’t already own. “The acquisition of Nozomi Networks brings Mitsubishi Electric a strong and growing AI-powered, cloud-first cybersecurity software business with an award-winning track record of scalable innovation,” stated Nozomi in this announcement. In its announcement about the deal, Mitsubishi Electric noted: “In response to the increasing importance of OT security measures due to the IoT and digital transformation (DX) of manufacturing sites and social infrastructure, Mitsubishi Electric has been dedicated to developing a ‘one-stop OT security solution’ that protects on-site equipment and systems from cyberattacks. This initiative leverages its extensive IT security expertise gained across various sectors, including the financial industry, and aims to promote DX among multiple industries… Through this announcement of the acquisition of Nozomi Networks, and its establishment as a subsidiary company, Mitsubishi Electric will strengthen its OT security business. This follows the earlier collaboration agreement with Nozomi Networks in 2024. By integrating solutions in the OT domain, where there are established strengths, with Nozomi’s world-class, cutting-edge OT security technology and diverse customer base, Mitsubishi Electric aims to fundamentally enhance its security business.” San Francisco-based Nozomi Networks has 315 employees and recorded revenues of $74.7m in 2024, up by 19% year on year.  

Following the market speculation that we reported on Monday, Mistral AI, the Paris-based generative AI (GenAI) developer, has confirmed details of its new funding round: It has raised €1.7bn at a valuation of €11.7bn. As expected, Dutch chipmaking equipment giant ASML is stumping up most of the cash – some €1.3bn – with existing investors DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Lightspeed and Nvidia also participating in the round. “ASML is proud to enter a strategic partnership with Mistral AI, and to be lead investor in this funding round. The collaboration between Mistral AI and ASML aims to generate clear benefits for ASML customers through innovative products and solutions enabled by AI, and will offer potential for joint research to address future opportunities,” stated ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet. According to Mistral AI, the investment “fuels our scientific research to keep pushing the frontier of AI to tackle the most critical and sophisticated technological challenges faced by strategic industries.” Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch added: “This investment brings together two technology leaders operating in the same value chain. We have the ambition to help ASML and its numerous partners solve current and future engineering challenges through AI, and ultimately to advance the full semiconductor and AI value chain”. Earlier this year, Mistral AI announced it had teamed up with fellow French giant Orange to “assess the impact of large-scale, massive use of AI on telecommunications networks worldwide”.

AI infrastructure specialist Nebius, which provides AI processing capacity to all kinds of enterprises from graphics processing unit (GPU) clusters housed at an increasing number of international locations, has landed a five-year deal worth $17.4bn to “deliver dedicated capacity to Microsoft from its new datacentre in Vineland, New Jersey, starting later this year”. Nebius will use some of the cashflow from the deal, and raise new capital, to fund the expansion of its Vineland facility to meet Microsoft’s needs. Arkady Volozh, founder and CEO of Nebius, stated: “Nebius’s core AI cloud business, serving customers from AI startups to enterprises, is performing exceptionally well. We have also said that, in addition to our core business, we expect to secure significant long-term committed contracts with leading AI labs and big tech companies. I’m happy to announce the first of these contracts, and I believe there are more to come. The economics of the deal are attractive in their own right but, significantly, the deal will also help us to accelerate the growth of our AI cloud business even further in 2026 and beyond,” added the CEO. The deal is monumental for Nebius, which in the second quarter of this year reported revenues of just $105.1m and which saw its share price leap by 42% to $91.06 during early Tuesday trading on the Nasdaq. Nebius didn’t reference the financial details of the Microsoft deal in its press release, instead leaving that information to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in which it noted that the “GPU services will be deployed in several tranches during 2025 and 2026” and that the deal might also be extended to include “additional services and/or capacity… which would increase the total contract value to about $19.4bn”. 

Claro Central America (Claro Cenam), the part of Latin American telco América Móvil that boasts about 17 million mobile customers across the central American region, has turned to Proximus Global, the international division of Belgian operator Proximus, to “support the monetisation and security of its application-to-person (A2P) messaging services across the region”, according to this Proximus Global announcement. Claro Cenam will use technology from 365squared, the messaging subsidiary of Route Mobile, which is one of the three main operations of the Proximus Global portfolio. As it is in many regions, the value of the A2P sector in Latin America is set to grow at a steady rate over the next five years to be worth about $5bn by 2030, according to Grand View Research, which makes it increasingly attractive to fraudsters and other bad actors. “By partnering with Proximus Global… Claro Cenam is building a safer and more equitable A2P ecosystem,” noted the operator. Ben Vandermeulen, chief revenue officer at Proximus Global, stated: “This approach protects operators, brands and end users, while ensuring that businesses using legitimate SMS routes are no longer disadvantaged by unauthorised practices. This partnership safeguards customer experience, preserves network value and ensures messages are delivered reliably, securely and with the quality customers expect.”

Still with the Belgian telco… Major Belgian insurance firm AG is acquiring an unspecified stake in Doktr, the Belgian video consultation app launched in 2021 by Proximus, as well as investing further in the app (though again no financial details were shared). “Together with CM-MC and Solidaris,” both of which are healthcare insurance firms, “there are now four major Belgian players in the field of health and economics who believe in and are investing in the development of a hybrid healthcare model,” noted Proximus in this announcement. Doktr and its investment partners aim to: Build a broad and inclusive ecosystem for healthcare in Belgium by collaborating with insurers, health insurance funds and other players in the well-being and healthcare sector; make digital healthcare accessible to all Belgians; expand services for employers and their employees, with a focus on prevention, independent care and the chronically ill; and expand and develop the digital platform so as to provide optimal end-user experience. 

Netskope, the SASE (secure access service edge) specialist that filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq exchange a few weeks ago, has provided an update on how much it is planning to raise from the process. It is to offer 47.8 million shares at a price of between $15 and $17, the company noted in this announcement: If Netskope’s shares float at the top of that range, it would raise $812.6m at a valuation of about $6.5bn. If there is high demand for the stock, Netskope will offer up to an additional 7.17 million shares to investors in the 30 days following its Nasdaq debut. The company has more than 4,300 customers for its secure connectivity services and is currently operating at an annual revenue run rate of just over $700m. 

– The staff, TelecomTV