Nvidia-backed Pigment raises $250M to take on Microsoft and SAP
What's the deal? Pigment, a Paris-based business planning platform, has raised $250 million at a $2.3 billion valuation. The Scaleup Europe FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the round, with Nvidia, World Innovation LabDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, ICONIQ, IVP, and Meritech Capital participating.
Why now? The valuation more than doubles the $1 billion Pigment commanded at its April 2024 Series D, when it raised $145 million. The raise follows reported growth to nearly $100 million in annual recurring revenue.
What does Pigment do? Founded in 2019, it processes real-time data from ERP, CRM, and HR systems to help companies forecast, model scenarios, and plan across finance, sales, and operations. Its customers include Unilever, Merck, and Klarna.
What's the endgame? Pigment plans to use the money to expand in Asia and build AI agents that work with companies' existing enterprise systems. It is positioning itself against Microsoft's Excel and PowerPoint, as well as established planning platforms from SAP, Oracle, IBM, and Anaplan.
Who's backing it? Nvidia's Jensen Huang announced the investment last week during a visit to France, part of a pledge of nearly $10 billion for Europe's technology ecosystem. Pigment also plans to add several Asian investors to the round.
What could go wrong? The funding alone doesn't prove customers are ready to drop familiar tools or replace legacy systems for a newer platform.
The signal: The round is a large follow-on bet on a European enterprise-software company taking on American giants on their home turf — and a sign that investors see room for AI-native challengers in the entrenched business-planning market.
Read more: news.bloomberglaw.com, Tech.eu
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
