Nvidia’s AI Startup Surge: How the Chip Giant Is Powering the Future of Artificial Intelligence

Inside Nvidia’s AI Startup Surge: How the Chip Giant Is Powering the Future of Artificial Intelligence

Over the past two years, Nvidia has evolved from being the backbone of AI infrastructure to one of the most active investors in the AI startup ecosystem. As demand for generative AI explodes globally, Nvidia is not just selling GPUs — it’s strategically placing bets on the companies that will define the next era of artificial intelligence.

From Silicon to Strategy: Nvidia’s Expanding Influence

Since 2023, Nvidia’s investment activity in AI startups has accelerated at a remarkable pace. In 2024 alone, the company was involved in 49 funding rounds, compared to just 34 in 2023, according to data from PitchBook. For context, that’s more than the company’s total AI investments from the four years before 2023 combined.

This surge isn’t limited to Nvidia’s dedicated venture arm, NVentures, which also scaled its operations, participating in 24 deals in 2024 — up from just two in 2022. In early 2025, Nvidia has already joined seven funding rounds, signaling continued momentum.

The company’s mission? To nurture the broader AI ecosystem by backing what it calls “game changers and market makers.”

The Billion-Dollar Bets

Nvidia has joined some of the biggest funding rounds in tech history. It participated in OpenAI’s mammoth $6.6 billion raise, reportedly contributing $100 million. Not long after, Nvidia also invested in Elon Musk’s xAI, which raised $6 billion, showing a willingness to support multiple generative AI players — even if they’re competitors.

Another notable early investment came in Inflection AI, co-founded by DeepMind’s Mustafa Suleyman. Nvidia led a $1.3 billion round, although the startup’s trajectory shifted dramatically when Microsoft later absorbed most of its talent.

The company also joined a $1.05 billion round for Wayve, a U.K.-based self-driving car company, and a $1 billion round for Scale AI, which plays a crucial role in data labeling for AI model training.

Building the AI Infrastructure of Tomorrow

While some of Nvidia’s bets are on foundation model startups, others focus on the infrastructure layer of AI. Crusoe, Lambda, CoreWeave, and Together AI all raised hundreds of millions of dollars with Nvidia’s support. These companies offer cloud-based GPU access, data center infrastructure, and training services — many relying directly on Nvidia hardware.

For example, CoreWeave’s valuation has surged to $19 billion since Nvidia’s early investment. It now serves as a key provider of GPU compute power to AI labs.

Similarly, Lambda raised $480 million, part of which will go toward expanding its AI cloud services built on Nvidia chips.

Diversifying into Robotics, Healthcare, and More

Nvidia’s investment scope extends beyond just cloud and LLMs. The company is actively supporting robotics (Figure AI), autonomous vehicles (Waabi), healthcare-focused AI (Hippocratic AI), and even AI-native data management platforms like Weka.

Nvidia’s participation in Figure AI’s $675 million round — alongside OpenAI and Microsoft — highlights its belief in humanoid robotics as a future growth area. In healthcare, its backing of Hippocratic AI reflects a growing interest in safe, regulated use cases for generative models.

Notable AI Investments Since 2023 (Over $100M Rounds)

Here are some of the standout deals:

• Perplexity AI: A rapidly growing AI search engine startup
• Mistral AI: France-based LLM company building open-weight models
• Cohere: An enterprise-focused LLM provider
• Poolside: AI coding assistant for developers
• Runway: Tools for AI-generated video and creative content
• Sandbox AQ: Specializing in large quantitative models for enterprise AI
• Ayar Labs: Working on optical interconnects for energy-efficient AI compute
• Enfabrica: Networking chips optimized for AI workloads

Strategic Alignment with Nvidia’s Core Business

What’s notable is how many of these startups either depend on Nvidia’s hardware or help drive demand for it. From data centers to model training services, these companies form an ecosystem where Nvidia’s GPUs are at the center.

Rather than competing with AI companies, Nvidia is embedding itself in their success — creating a flywheel effect that benefits its hardware sales, developer adoption, and long-term strategic positioning.

Conclusion: Nvidia’s Investment Blueprint for AI Dominance

Nvidia’s venture activity is more than just a side project — it’s a blueprint for extending its dominance beyond hardware. By funding the most promising AI startups across infrastructure, applications, and vertical-specific use cases, the chipmaker is ensuring that the next generation of AI innovation is built on its platform.

As AI adoption deepens across industries, Nvidia’s early and strategic bets are likely to pay off not just financially, but in shaping the entire landscape of artificial intelligence.