Generative artificial intelligence (genAI) player Bioptimus has swelled its coffers with another financing round, raising $41 million less than a year after emerging onto the scene with $36 million in seed funding.

France has emerged as something of a hotbed for AI startups, with generative AI companies across the country securing the lion’s share of funding as of last year. Mega funding rounds include Mistral AI’s $640 million tranche, H securing $220 million, and Hugging Face closing a $235 million investment — all in the past 18 months.

Bioptimus, a pioneer in AI foundation models, has raised $76 million in funding with $41 million in the last round by Cathay Innovation. This funding will help

Bioptimus, which operates in Paris, intends to use the funding to enhance its AI platform and forge partnerships with pharma and biotech companies.

Bioptimus, a French artificial intelligence model startup, said today it has raised $41 million that will go toward building what it says will be the world’s first universal AI foundation model for biology research.