(Reuters) - French generative AI startup LightOn launched an initial public offering (IPO) on the Euronext Growth market in Paris on Friday, with a listing expected later in November.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

LightOn, which provides large language model (LLM) software to businesses and the French government, would become the first GenAI startup to be listed in Europe.

European peers like France's Mistral or Germany's DeepL have so far preferred to raise funding by remaining private.

France is promoting itself as Europe's main hub for artificial intelligence, in a bid to close a long-standing innovation gap with the U.S. and Britain.

KEY QUOTES

"This planned IPO offers investors a unique opportunity to participate directly in the growth of a French technology champion that is already successfully deploying its AI solutions with major groups in France and abroad," LightOn co-CEOs Igor Carron and Laurent Daudet said in a statement.

CONTEXT

In February, Alphabet's Google opened a hub dedicated to the AI sector in France.

President Emmanuel Macron said before the start of his second term that he hoped tech "unicorns" in France would reach at least 100 by 2030, up from only 27 at present.

A significant number of tech companies in the European Union are ready to be listed, the CEO of the pan-European stock exchange Euronext, Stéphane Boujnah, said on Thursday.

BY THE NUMBERS

Shares will be issued with a subscription price of 10.35 euros per share, valuing the company at around 50 million euros, it said.

Additionally, LightOn is supporting the IPO with a capital increase of about 10.4 million euros ($11.2 million).

It is targeting a revenue of 40 million euros and a core profit (EBITDA) margin of 40% by 2027.

Settlement delivery is expected on Nov. 25, and the first day of trading on the Euronext Growth a day later.

($1 = 0.9278 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)