Born within Inria in 2023, Probably takes a major step in its development with the raising of 13 million euros in seed fundingco-led by Serena And Capital Fund Management (CFM)with the participation of Mozilla Ventures and the device French Tech Sovereigntyoperated by Bpifrance as part of the plan France 2030. This operation brings the total raised in seed to 18.5 million eurossetting a European record for a company Commercial Open Source Software (COSS).
To talk about it, we welcome Yann Lechelle, its CEO, to FRENCHWEB BUSINESS
From public research to the industrialization of machine learning
Resulting from Inria’s P16 project, Probabl’s mission is to transforming artisanal data science into industrial infrastructure. The company operates scikit-learnthe world’s most widely used open source machine learning library, with more than 2.5 billion downloads. By building on this scientific basis, Probabl wants to offer companies a reliable, traceable and reproducible framework for their artificial intelligence models.
“This seed raise gives us the power necessary to project Probabl on an international scale. We are building a unique strength in open source to help companies truly take ownership of their data science,” explains Yann LechelleCEO and co-founder of Probabl.
The company’s first product, Skoreaims to help businesses convert their investments in AI into measurable performance. The tool is based on proven machine learning, structured around scikit-learn scientific standards, to meet the industrialization needs of data teams.
Structuring a European open source software ecosystem
For Gaël Varoquauxco-founder of scikit-learn and scientific advisor to Probabl, the project embodies a sustainable vision of open innovation: “With Probabl, we will consolidate scikit-learn to better meet the needs of the industry. Our goal is to give companies the means to exploit their data through simple, responsible and sustainable statistical learning. »
Investors share this ambition for a European model of industrial free software. “At Serena, we are convinced that open source constitutes the invisible infrastructure of the digital economy. Probabl embodies this new generation of champions capable of transforming a global scientific technology into an industrial offer,” underlines Matthew LavergnePartner at Serena.
Same observation for Benjamin RoyCTO of CFM: “scikit-learn has been an important pillar of our research and investment processes for more than ten years. Participating in the development of Probabl means supporting a technology central to our business while supporting a European project with global reach. »
A showcase for the France 2030 strategy
Supported from the outset by Inriathe company is part of the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (SNIA) and the plan France 2030. For Bruno BonnellSecretary General for Investment France 2030, “Probabl illustrates the desire to transform scientific excellence into industrial success. With significant public investments, we support a company that combines sovereignty, sustainability and openness. »
This fundraising marks a new stage in the construction of a European open source software ecosystempillar of a more transparent, interoperable and sovereign artificial intelligence.
Founded in 2023, Probably is led by Yann Lechelle. She raised in total 18.5 million euros near Serena, Capital Fund Management, Mozilla Ventures And French Tech Sovereignty. Probabl operates scikit-learnthe most widely used machine learning library in the world, and develops Skorea suite of solutions to industrialize data science within companies.
