Planned Initial Public Offering
on Euronext Growth Paris
Message from the co-CEOs
“Generative AI is going public… and entering businesses.
Imagine a CEO requesting a report on all the CSR actions undertaken by his Group, and getting an immediate response at any time of the day or night, in any language… Imagine an almost immediate response to a public call for tenders that usually takes several weeks to prepare… This is the revolution promised by generative AI, which will profoundly transform how businesses operate. From education to healthcare, from customer relations to the media and industry… no sector will escape, as the benefits are so numerous. Generative AI could automate up to 60-70% of employees’ time1, enabling them to concentrate on higher value-added tasks. The promises of generative AI are enormous, and the global market is colossal: estimated revenues of over $1.3 trillion by 2032, half of which will come from software, i.e. a market that will grow a nearly 20-fold in less than 10 years2.”
1 McKinsey & Company, The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier, juin 2023
2 Bloomberg Intelligence, eMarketer, Statista
Igor Carron and Laurent Daudet, co-CEOs et co-founders of LightOn
pour lire la suite
At the forefront of its sector in technology, LightOn is a commercial enterprise with solutions already at the heart of major private and public organizations. Safran, Groupama, Région Ile-de-France, the Public Finances Directorate General, CNES and Verlingue are among the clients who have already adopted our turnkey generative AI solution, Paradigm. But the adventure is just beginning. The growth of our market is accelerating at a pace that exceeds our expectations. Our partnerships with Orange Business and Hewlett Packard Enterprise will enable us to step up our commercial offensive and position ourselves as a preferred partner for all companies in generative AI.
Given our order book and solid sales momentum, we are now ready to set ourselves ambitious targets: reach in 2027sales of c. €40 million, combined with an EBITDA margin of around 40% of sales and a €35 million ARR. To support this rapid development, we are today announcing our intention to float. It represents a tremendous opportunity for us to accelerate our recruitment drive, increase our technological lead and conquer new verticals and markets internationally. As a pure player in generative AI, it is also a way for all of you to take part in the generative AI revolution…
We hope that many of you will join us!”
Igor Carron and Laurent Daudet, co-CEOs et co-founders of LightOn
About us
From 2016 to 2022: foundation of the technological backbone
Founded in 2016 by Igor Carron and Laurent Daudet, two experts with background in top-level French and American academic research and with experience in the world’s largest engineering sciences laboratories, up until 2020 LightOn developed an optical processor (Optical Processing Unit) designed to rapidly process data in AI applications, with low energy consumption.
Focused on generative AI since 2020, LightOn has designed 12 Large Language Models (LLMs) in only four years, capable of working with more than 100 billion parameters, thanks to its ability to access European supercomputers and the computing power of cloud giants, making the Company one of the few players in the world with this technological capacity.
Forge and Paradigm: sovereign, customized solutions
LightOn has developed and markets two software solutions.
Forge, marketed since 2022, is a technological support for a customized generative AI aimed at companies and organizations who want to develop their own language model, improve an existing language model or integrate new technological building blocks like RAG or agents.
Paradigm, marketed in 2024, is a ready-to-use generative AI platform designed to meet all the needs of businesses and the public sector. It harnesses the power of generative AI to optimize and enhance business productivity by automating various business processes. This software platform stands out through its customization capabilities, user-friendliness, and powerful features, enabling rapid integration within organizations. As a complete turnkey solution, Paradigm is built on an advanced architecture that combines a LLM with multimodal Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), allowing intelligent interaction with the company’s document corpus through natural language queries. Furthermore, it includes highly specialized intelligent agents capable of autonomously creating and managing complex workflows, such as responding to requests for proposals.
Solutions already marketed directly to major accounts
In 2023, Forge was rolled out to several major organizations, including a Silicon Valley company in the United States developing a medical assistant AI. It had previously been deployed at a research institute in EMEA.
In 2024, Paradigm has also been adopted by companies, with many key accounts in France that, convinced by the solution, have already deployed it in an initial test and evaluation phase (POC – proof of concept). Examples include: the Ile-de-France region, Safran, Groupama, the Public Finances Directorate General, CNES and Verlingue. The first production launches are planned between the end of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.
Strategic partnerships to boost sales efforts through indirect channel
In addition to its direct approach, which has enabled it to win support from numerous companies, in the first half of 2024 LightOn finalized strategic partnerships with Orange Business and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, two major hardware players with a view to combining its generative AI software solution with their cloud or hardware offering.
Making the difference
Why invest in LightOn?
A LEADER IN GENERATIVE IA, FIRST PURE PLAYER LISTED IN EUROPE
A LEADER IN GENERATIVE IA, FIRST PURE PLAYER LISTED IN EUROPE
- Rare technological expertise, with a dozen language models developed, some with over 100 billion parameters
- Turnkey solutions tailored to the specific needs of all businesses
- Expertise across the entire software value chain, from model creation to application interfaces
- A 41-strong team in place from technology to sales, with a third of the workforce already dedicated to product marketing
A FAST-GROWING GLOBAL MARKET
A FAST-GROWING GLOBAL MARKET
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the global market for generative AI could account for over $1.3 trillion in revenues by 2032.
No sector will escape, as the benefits are so numerous. In its June 2023 report “The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier”, McKinsey argues that generative AI will make it possible to automate up to 2/3 of employees’ time by managing repetitive tasks, enabling them to concentrate on higher value-added tasks.
1 Bloomberg Intelligence, eMarketer, Statista
SOLUTIONS ALREADY USED BY PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR COMPANIES
SOLUTIONS ALREADY USED BY PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR COMPANIES
Ministère des Armées, CNES, Région Ile-de-France, DGFIP, Groupama, Verlingue, Safran, Docaposte.
All these companies already have LightOn solutions at the heart of their processes in the test and evaluation phase, with very positive feedback and advanced discussions to move some of them on to enterprise-wide production by late 2024.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS TO BOOST SALES EFFORTS
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS TO BOOST SALES EFFORTS
- April 2024: Partnership signed with Orange Business (30,000 client companies worldwide)
This partnership opens up the SME and large-size enterprise market to LightOn, where Orange Business has a strong presence
- June 2024: Partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (27,000 client companies worldwide)
A commercial partnership as well as a technical collaboration, integrating joint efforts on innovations in the generative AI sector
A potential of nearly 60,000 client companies representing millions of users
AN OFFENSIVE STRATEGY FOR LARGE-SCALE DEPLOYMENT
AN OFFENSIVE STRATEGY FOR LARGE-SCALE DEPLOYMENT
LightOn has defined an ambitious development strategy focused on two main priority areas:
- Accelerating commercial development in the most promising markets: banking and insurance, defense, healthcare, industry, and the public sector
- Expanding internationally to seize all opportunities arising from the global excitement around generative AI, with two priority regions: Europe, where LightOn aims to have at least one representative in four countries by the end of 2025, and the Middle East, where LightOn plans to open a commercial office by the end of 2025
To achieve this, LightOn will rely on two key strengths:
- Its intrinsic attractiveness and its ability to continue attracting global talent, with the ambition of recruiting around 50 new employees by 2027
- The continuous improvement of the value provided by its solutions, by staying at the forefront of the latest technological advancements in its field
STRONG AMBITIONS
STRONG AMBITIONS
Our objectives for the period 2024-2027 are as follows:
2024
- Transformation of the business model and the nature of revenues in favor of Paradigm license revenues – SaaS type revenues
- Model transition leading to lower sales in 2024 vs. 2023
- A target of doubling ARR compared with July 31, 2024
2025
- Accelerated growth in Paradigm license revenues, with year-end ARR of c. €6 M
- Sales mix: strong contribution from Paradigm, and additional contribution from Forge
2026
- EBITDA & Free cashflow Positive
2027
- Sales of c. €40m
- ARR end 2027 of c. € 35 m, of which about 2/3 generated by indirect sales
- EBITDA margin of around 40%
Documentation
(in French only)
Version française