Nvidia’s Ai Empire: A Look At Its Top Startup Investments

No institution has capitalized connected nan AI gyration much dramatically than Nvidia. Its revenue, profitability, and rate reserves person skyrocketed since nan preamble of ChatGPT complete 2 years agone — and nan galore competitory generative AI services that person launched since. Its banal value has soared, making it a $4.5 trillion marketplace headdress company. 

The world’s starring high-performance GPU shaper has utilized its ballooning fortunes to importantly summation investments successful startups, particularly successful AI. 

Nvidia has participated successful 50 task superior deals so acold successful 2025, already surpassing nan 48 deals nan institution completed successful each of 2024, according to PitchBook data. Note that these investments exclude those made by its general firm VC fund, NVentures, which besides importantly accrued its finance gait complete that period. (PitchBook says NVentures engaged successful 21 deals this year, compared to conscionable 1 successful 2022.)  

Nvidia has stated that nan extremity of its firm investing is to grow nan AI ecosystem by backing startups it considers to beryllium “game changers and marketplace makers.”  

Below is simply a database of startups that raised rounds exceeding $100 cardinal since 2023 wherever Nvidia is simply a named participant, organized from nan highest to lowest magnitude raised successful nan round. 

This database shows conscionable really acold and wide Nvidia has dispersed its tentacles successful nan tech industry, beyond supplying its products. 

The billion-dollar-round club

OpenAI: Nvidia backed nan ChatGPT shaper for nan first clip successful October 2024, reportedly penning a $100 cardinal check arsenic portion of a colossal $6.6 cardinal information that weighted nan institution astatine $157 billion. The chipmaker’s finance was dwarfed by OpenAI’s different backers, notably Thrive, which according to nan New York Times invested $1.3 billion. While PitchBook information indicates Nvidia did not participate successful OpenAI’s $40 cardinal backing information that closed successful March, nan chipmaker announced successful September that it would put up to $100 billion in nan institution complete time, system arsenic a strategical business to deploy monolithic AI infrastructure. 

xAI: In 2024, OpenAI tried to seduce its investors not to invest successful immoderate of its rivals. But Nvidia participated successful nan $6 cardinal information of Elon Musk’s xAI past December anyway. Nvidia will besides put up to $2 billion in nan equity information of xAI’s planned $20 cardinal backing round, Bloomberg reported, a woody system to thief xAI acquisition much Nvidia gear. 

Mistral AI: Nvidia invested successful Mistral for nan 3rd clip erstwhile nan French-based ample connection exemplary developer raised €1.7 cardinal (about $2 billion) Series C astatine a €11.7billion ($13.5 billion) post-money valuation in September.   

Reflection AI: In October, Nvidia led a $2 cardinal backing round for Reflection AI, a one-year-old startup, valuing nan institution astatine $8 billion. Reflection AI is positioning itself arsenic a US-based competitor to Chinese DeepSeek, whose open-source ample connection exemplary offers a less-expensive replacement to closed-source models from companies specified arsenic OpenAI and Anthropic. 

Thinking Machines Lab: Nvidia was among a agelong database of investors who backed erstwhile OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab’s $2 cardinal seed round. The funding, which was formally announced successful July, weighted nan caller AI startup astatine $12 billion. 

Inflection: One of Nvidia’s first important AI investments besides had 1 of nan much different (but progressively common) outcomes. In June 2023, Nvidia was 1 of respective lead investors successful Inflection’s $1.3 billion round, a institution co-founded by Mustafa Suleyman, nan famed laminitis of DeepMind. Less than a twelvemonth later, Microsoft hired Inflection’s founders, paying $620 million for a non-exclusive exertion license, leaving nan institution pinch a importantly diminished workforce and a little defined future. 

Nscale: After nan startup’s $1.1 cardinal round in September, Nvidia participated successful Nscale’s $433 cardinal SAFE funding successful October. That’s a woody that secures early equity for investors. Nscale, which formed successful 2023 after spinning retired of Australian cryptocurrency mining institution Akorn Energy, is building information centers successful nan UK and Norway for OpenAI’s Stargate project. 

Wayve: In May 2024, Nvidia participated successful a $1.05 cardinal round for nan U.K.-based startup, which is processing a self-learning strategy for autonomous driving. Nvidia is expected to put an dditional $500 million in Wayve, nan startup told TechCrunch successful September. Wayve is testing its vehicles successful nan U.K. and nan San Francisco Bay Area. 

Figure AI: In September, Nvidia participated successful nan Figure AI’s Series C backing information of over $1 billion, which weighted nan humanoid robotics startup astatine $39 billion. The chipmaker first invested successful Figure successful February 2024 erstwhile nan institution raised a $675 million Series B information astatine a $2.6 cardinal valuation. 

Scale AI: In May 2024, Nvidia joined Accel and different tech giants Amazon and Meta to invest $1 billion in Scale AI, which provides data-labeling services to companies for training AI models. The information weighted nan San Francisco-based institution astatine astir $14 billion. In June, Meta invested $14.3 billion for a 49% liking of Scale, and hired distant nan company’s co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang, arsenic good arsenic respective different cardinal Scale employees. 

The many-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars club

Commonwealth Fusion: The chipmaker participated successful nan atomic fusion-energy startup’s  $863 cardinal backing round in August 2025. The deal, which besides included investors for illustration Google and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, weighted nan institution astatine $3 billion. 

Crusoe: A startup building information centers reportedly to beryllium leased to Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI raised $686 million in November 2024, according to an SEC filing. The finance was led by Founders Fund, and nan agelong database of different investors included Nvidia. 

Cohere: The chipmaker has invested successful endeavor ample connection exemplary supplier Cohere crossed aggregate backing rounds, including the $500 cardinal Series D, which closed successful August, valuing Cohere astatine $6.8 billion. Nvidia first backed nan Toronto-based startup successful 2023. 

Perplexity: Nvidia first invested successful Perplexity successful November 2023 and has participated successful astir of nan consequent backing rounds of nan AI hunt motor startup, including the $500 million round closed successful December 2024. The chipmaker participated successful nan company’s July backing round, which weighted Perplexity astatine $18 billion. However, Nvidia did not subordinate nan startup’s subsequent $200 cardinal fundraise in September, which boosted nan company’s valuation to $20 billion, according to PitchBook data. 

Poolside: In October 2024, the AI coding adjunct startup Poolside announced it raised $500 million led by Bain Capital Ventures. Nvidia participated successful nan round, which weighted nan AI startup astatine $3 billion. 

Lambda: AI unreality supplier Lambda, which provides services for exemplary training, raised a $480 cardinal Series D at a reported $2.5 cardinal valuation in February. The information was co-led by SGW and Andra Capital Lambda, and joined by Nvidia, ARK Invest, and others. A important portion of Lambda’s business involves renting servers powered by Nvidia’s GPUs. 

CoreWeave: Although CoreWeave is nary longer a startup, but a nationalist company, Nvidia invested successful GPU-cloud provider when it was still one, backmost successful April 2023. That’s erstwhile CoreWeave raised $221 million in funding. Nvidia remains a important shareholder. 

Together AI: In February, Nvidia participated successful the $305 cardinal Series B of this company, which offers cloud-based infrastructure for building AI models. The information weighted Together AI astatine $3.3 cardinal and was co-led by Prosperity7, a Saudi Arabian task firm, and General Catalyst. Nvidia backed nan company for nan first time in 2023.  

Firmus Technologies: In September, Firmus Technologies, nan Singapore-based information halfway company, received A$330 million (approximately $215 cardinal USD) successful backing astatine a A$1.85 billion ($1.2 cardinal USD) valuation from investors, including Nvidia. Firmus is processing an energy-efficient ‘AI factory’ successful Tasmania, an land authorities of Australia. The startup primitively provided cooling technologies for Bitcoin mining. 

Sakana AI: In September 2024, Nvidia invested in the Japan-based startup, which trains low-cost generative AI models utilizing mini datasets. The startup raised a massive Series A information of astir $214 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion. 

Nuro: In August, Nvidia participated successful the $203 million funding information for nan self-driving startup focused connected delivery. The woody weighted Nuro astatine $6 billion, a important 30% driblet from its highest astatine $8.6 cardinal valuation successful 2021. 

Imbue: The AI investigation laboratory that claims to beryllium processing AI systems that tin logic and codification raised a $200 cardinal round successful September 2023 from investors, including Nvidia, Astera Institute, and erstwhile Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt. 

Waabi: In June 2024, nan autonomous trucking startup raised a $200 cardinal Series B round co-led by existing investors Uber and Khosla Ventures. Other investors included Nvidia, Volvo Group Venture Capital, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE. 

Deals of complete a $100 million

Ayar Labs: In December, Nvidia invested successful the $155 cardinal round of Ayar Labs, a company processing optical interconnects to amended AI compute and powerfulness efficiency. This was nan 3rd clip Nvidia backed nan startup. 

Kore.ai: The startup processing enterprise-focused AI chatbots raised $150 million in December of 2023. In summation to Nvidia, investors participating successful nan backing included FTV Capital, Vistara Growth, and Sweetwater Private Equity. 

Sandbox AQ: In April, Nvidia, alongside Google, BNP Paribas, and others, invested $150 million in Sandbox AQ, a startup processing ample quantitative models (LQMs) for handling analyzable numerical study and statistical calculations. The finance accrued Sandbox AQ’s Series E information to $450 cardinal and nan company’s valuation to $5.75 billion. 

Hippocratic AI: This startup, which is processing ample connection models for healthcare, announced successful January that it raised a $141 cardinal Series B at a valuation of $1.64 cardinal led by Kleiner Perkins. Nvidia participated successful nan round, on pinch returning investors Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and others. The institution claims that its AI solutions tin grip non-diagnostic patient-facing tasks specified arsenic pre-operating procedures, distant diligent monitoring, and assignment preparation. 

Weka: In May 2024, Nvidia invested successful a $140 million round for AI-native information guidance level Weka. The information weighted nan Silicon Valley institution astatine $1.6 billion. 

Runway: In April, Nvidia participated successful Runway’s $308 cardinal round, which was led by General Atlantic and weighted nan startup processing generative AI models for media production at $3.55 billion, according to PitchBook data. The chipmaker has been an investor in since 2023.  

Bright Machines: In June 2024, Nvidia participated successful a $126 cardinal Series C of Bright Machines, a smart robotics and AI-driven package startup. 

Enfabrica: In September 2023, Nvidia invested successful networking chips designer Enfabrica’s $125 cardinal Series B. Although nan startup raised different $115 cardinal successful November, Nvidia didn’t participate successful nan round. 

Reka AI: In July, an AI investigation laboratory Reka, raised $110 million in a information that included Snowflake and Nvidia. The woody tripled nan startup’s valuation to over $1 billion, according to Bloomberg.