Nvidia Boosts AI Ecosystem with Major Investments in Top Startups

Nvidia, the world's leading high-performance GPU manufacturer, has seen a dramatic rise in its financial metrics and market value since the launch of ChatGPT over two years ago. This resurgence has allowed the company to aggressively increase its venture capital investments, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI) startups. According to PitchBook data, Nvidia’s venture capital activity surged in 2024, with the company participating in 49 funding rounds for AI firms—up from 34 in 2023 and a combined total of 38 from the previous four years. NVentures, Nvidia’s corporate venture capital arm, also intensified its investment strategy, engaging in 24 deals in 2024 compared to just two in 2022. The trend continues into 2025, with Nvidia already participating in seven funding rounds. Nvidia’s primary goal with these investments is to foster and expand the AI ecosystem by supporting startups deemed "game changers and market makers." Here’s a closer look at some of the notable startups Nvidia has backed since 2023: The Billion-Dollar-Round Club - OpenAI: In October 2023, Nvidia made its first investment in OpenAI, contributing $100 million to a $6.6 billion round that valued the company at $157 billion. Other major investors included Thrive Capital. - xAI: In early 2024, Nvidia joined the $6 billion funding round of Elon Musk’s xAI, despite OpenAI's request for investors to avoid backing its rivals. - Inflection: Nvidia was among the lead investors in a $1.3 billion Series B round for Inflection in June 2023. However, less than a year later, Microsoft acquired Inflection’s founders and key technology, leaving the company with a diminished workforce and uncertain future. - Wayve: In May 2024, Nvidia participated in a $1.05 billion funding round for Wayve, a U.K. startup focused on self-learning systems for autonomous driving. - Scale AI: In May 2024, Nvidia joined a $1 billion investment in Scale AI, a data-labeling service provider for AI models. This round valued the San Francisco-based company at nearly $14 billion. The Many-Hundreds-of-Millions-of-Dollars Club - Crusoe: In late November 2024, Crusoe raised $686 million to build data centers for leasing to tech giants like Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Founders Fund led the round, with Nvidia among other notable contributors. - Figure AI: In February 2024, Figure AI secured a $675 million Series B round from Nvidia, the OpenAI Startup Fund, Microsoft, and others. The company, focused on AI robotics, was valued at $2.6 billion. - Mistral AI: Nvidia invested in Mistral AI's $640 million Series B in June 2024, increasing the company’s valuation to $6 billion. Mistral AI is known for developing large language models. - Lambda: In February 2024, Lambda raised a $480 million Series D at a $2.5 billion valuation, with Nvidia, ARK Invest, and others co-leading the round. Lambda rents servers equipped with Nvidia GPUs to businesses. - Cohere: Nvidia backed Cohere, a large language model provider for enterprises, in a $500 million round in June 2024. This investment followed an initial backing in 2023. - Perplexity: Nvidia has been a consistent investor in Perplexity, an AI search engine startup. The company raised a $500 million round in December 2024, valuing it at $9 billion. - Poolside: In October 2024, Poolside, an AI coding assistant firm, announced a $500 million round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with Nvidia participating. Poolside’s valuation reached $3 billion. Other Noteworthy Deals Over $100 Million - CoreWeave: Nvidia invested in CoreWeave in April 2023, contributing to a $221 million round. Subsequently, CoreWeave’s valuation skyrocketed to $19 billion, and the company filed for an IPO. - Together AI: In February 2024, Nvidia joined a $305 million Series B round for Together AI, a cloud-based infrastructure provider for building AI models. The company’s valuation rose to $3.3 billion. - Sakana AI: In September 2023, Sakana AI raised a $214 million Series A, primarily focused on training low-cost generative AI models using small datasets. Nvidia was among the investors, contributing to the startup’s $1.5 billion valuation. - Imbue: Imbue, an AI research lab developing reasoning and coding capabilities, received a $200 million round in September 2023 from investors including Nvidia. The company’s valuation reached $1.64 billion. - Waabi: Waabi, an autonomous trucking startup, secured a $200 million Series B in June 2024, co-led by Uber and Khosla Ventures, with Nvidia as a significant investor. - Ayar Labs: In December 2023, Nvidia invested in Ayar Labs’ $155 million round, aimed at improving AI compute and power efficiency through optical interconnects. - Kore.ai: The enterprise-focused AI chatbot provider raised $150 million in December 2023, with Nvidia among the investors. - Sandbox AQ: Nvidia participated in a $150 million round for Sandbox AQ in April 2024, pushing the total Series E round to $450 million and the company’s valuation to $5.75 billion. - Hippocratic AI: In January 2024, Hippocratic AI, which develops large language models for healthcare, raised a $141 million Series B. Nvidia was one of the many investors, including Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz. - Weka: In May 2024, Nvidia invested in Weka’s $140 million round, bringing the AI-native data management platform’s valuation to $1.6 billion. - Runway: In June 2023, Runway, a generative AI tool for multimedia content creation, secured a $141 million Series C extension from Nvidia, Google, and Salesforce. - Bright Machines: Nvidia participated in a $126 million Series C round for Bright Machines, a smart robotics and AI-driven software company, in June 2024. - Enfabrica: In September 2023, Nvidia invested in Enfabrica’s $125 million Series B. Though Enfabrica raised an additional $115 million in November, Nvidia did not participate in this subsequent round. Industry insiders and analysts view Nvidia’s aggressive investment strategy as a sign of its commitment to dominating the AI hardware landscape while expanding the broader AI ecosystem. By backing a diverse array of startups, Nvidia ensures that its technology remains at the forefront of cutting-edge AI applications, from autonomous driving to healthcare and enterprise services. This approach not only strengthens its market position but also positions Nvidia to benefit from the success of these innovative companies. Nvidia’s success can be attributed to its early recognition of the potential of AI and its ability to develop and optimize GPUs specifically for AI workloads. The company’s continued investment in AI infrastructure and applications underscores its role as a key player and influencer in the rapidly evolving tech sector.