Former French digital minister and advisory cofounder of buzzy AI company Mistral Cédric O has launched a new edtech startup called The Marshmallow Project, according to publicly-available company creation documents. The news was first reported by French business media L’Informé.
The new company is raising a €10m seed round, with participation from US investor General Catalyst and London-based VC Balderton, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the fundraise. The round is yet to close.
Luxembourg-HQed AI VC Alpha Intelligence Capital is also participating in the round, according to one source with direct knowledge, as well as a number of French investors including edtech VC Edu Capital, family office Motier Ventures, and early-stage VCs Kima Ventures, daphni and Sistafund.
Company creation documents show that O has teamed up with four other cofounders to launch The Marshmallow Project.
They include: Flore Cousin, who was previously customer success director at French fintech Alma; Nicolas Princen, founder of reading platform Glose, who spent four years as an advisor to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy; Fréderic Potter, a former engineer at Apple and the founder of several tech businesses, including consumer electronics company Withings; and Sébastien Boyer, who cofounded US-based agritech FarmWise.
Sifted understands that O will take on the position of CEO and Cousin of COO, while Princen, Potter and Boyer will have advisory roles.
O declined to comment.
What is The Marshmallow Project?
The Marshmallow Project is in stealth for now but the company’s creation documents state that it intends to create websites, software and mobile apps to commercialise educational content.
Two sources with knowledge of the company say that the startup is still in early stages but will have a focus on applying AI to educational content for children.
A small team — fewer than 10 employees — has already been assembled, based between France and the US, according to one source.
Who is Cédric O?
O joined the government of current French president Emmanuel Macron in 2017, where he spent five years — first as an advisor to the president, and then as secretary of state for digital.
He was part of the team that cofounded Mistral in 2023, where he took on an advisory role.
As part of his work with Mistral, O vocally pushed back against some parts of the EU’s AI Act — a flagship piece of legislation that was passed at the end of 2023, which intends to prevent misuses of the technology. O said that some of the regulations had the potential to impede the growth of European AI startups.
In an interview with Sifted last year, he said that he was planning to launch a new business.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/cedric-o-the-marshmallow-project-news/
