Summary
Nvidia has emerged as a powerhouse in the AI revolution, not only through its leading GPU technology but also by making significant investments in AI startups. Since 2023, Nvidia has backed numerous companies raising over $100 million, spanning sectors from generative AI to autonomous vehicles and data centers. This article explores Nvidia’s top startup investments, highlighting how the company is expanding its influence across the AI ecosystem.
Nvidia’s AI Investment Surge in 2025
No company has capitalized on the AI boom quite like Nvidia. Since the debut of ChatGPT over two years ago, Nvidia’s revenue, profits, and cash reserves have soared, pushing its market capitalization to an astounding $4.5 trillion. The chipmaker has leveraged this success to ramp up investments in startups, especially those focused on AI.
According to PitchBook data, Nvidia has participated in 50 venture capital deals so far in 2025, already surpassing the 48 deals completed throughout 2024. This figure excludes investments made by its corporate venture capital fund, NVentures, which itself has accelerated activity—from just one deal in 2022 to 21 deals this year.
Nvidia’s stated goal with these investments is to grow the AI ecosystem by supporting startups it views as “game changers and market makers.” Below, we explore some of the most notable startups Nvidia has backed, focusing on those raising rounds exceeding $100 million since 2023.
The Billion-Dollar Round Club
OpenAI
Nvidia made its first investment in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, in October 2024 by contributing $100 million to a massive $6.6 billion funding round that valued the company at $157 billion. While other investors like Thrive contributed more, Nvidia’s strategic partnership includes plans to invest up to $100 billion over time to support AI infrastructure deployment.
xAI
Despite OpenAI’s efforts to discourage investment in rivals, Nvidia participated in Elon Musk’s xAI $6 billion funding round in December 2024. Bloomberg reported that Nvidia plans to invest up to $2 billion in xAI’s equity as part of a $20 billion funding round, structured to help xAI acquire more Nvidia hardware.
Mistral AI
In September, Nvidia invested in Mistral AI’s €1.7 billion (approximately $2 billion) Series C round, valuing the French large language model developer at €11.7 billion ($13.5 billion).
Reflection AI
In October, Nvidia led a $2 billion funding round for Reflection AI, a one-year-old startup positioning itself as a U.S.-based competitor to Chinese AI firm DeepSeek. The round valued Reflection AI at $8 billion.
Thinking Machines Lab
Nvidia joined a consortium of investors backing former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab, in a $2 billion seed round announced in July 2025. The round valued the company at $12 billion.
Inflection
One of Nvidia’s earlier AI investments, Inflection raised $1.3 billion in June 2023 with Nvidia as a lead investor. The company, co-founded by DeepMind’s Mustafa Suleyman, saw a shift when Microsoft acquired a non-exclusive technology license for $620 million less than a year later, leading to workforce reductions and an uncertain future.
Nscale
Nvidia participated in Nscale’s $1.1 billion funding round in September 2024 and a subsequent $433 million SAFE funding in October. Nscale, spun out from Australian crypto mining firm Akorn Energy, is building data centers in the UK and Norway to support OpenAI’s Stargate project.
Wayve
In May 2024, Nvidia invested in a $1.05 billion round for UK-based Wayve, which develops self-learning autonomous driving systems. The company is testing vehicles in the UK and San Francisco Bay Area, with Nvidia expected to invest an additional $500 million.
Figure AI
Nvidia participated in Figure AI’s Series C funding round of over $1 billion in September 2024, valuing the humanoid robotics startup at $39 billion. Nvidia first invested in Figure during its $675 million Series B round in February 2024.
Scale AI
In May 2024, Nvidia joined Amazon, Meta, and Accel in a $1 billion investment round for Scale AI, a data-labeling service provider for AI training. The round valued Scale AI at nearly $14 billion. Subsequently, Meta acquired a 49% stake for $14.3 billion and recruited key Scale executives.
Startups Raising Hundreds of Millions
Commonwealth Fusion
Nvidia participated in an $863 million funding round for nuclear fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion in August 2025, alongside investors like Google and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The round valued the company at $3 billion.
Crusoe
Crusoe, which builds data centers leased to companies like Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI, raised $686 million in November 2024. Nvidia was among the investors in this round led by Founders Fund.
Cohere
Nvidia has backed enterprise large language model provider Cohere across multiple rounds, including a $500 million Series D in August 2024 that valued the company at $6.8 billion.
Perplexity
Nvidia first invested in AI search engine Perplexity in November 2023 and participated in subsequent rounds, including a $500 million raise in December 2024 that valued the company at $18 billion. Nvidia did not join a later $200 million round that increased Perplexity’s valuation to $20 billion.
Poolside
In October 2024, AI coding assistant startup Poolside raised $500 million led by Bain Capital Ventures, with Nvidia participating. The round valued Poolside at $3 billion.
Lambda
AI cloud provider Lambda raised a $480 million Series D round in February 2024 at a $2.5 billion valuation. Nvidia joined alongside SGW, Andra Capital, and ARK Invest. Lambda’s business includes renting servers powered by Nvidia GPUs.
CoreWeave
CoreWeave, now a public company, received Nvidia investment during its startup phase in April 2023, raising $221 million. Nvidia remains a significant shareholder.
Together AI
Nvidia participated in Together AI’s $305 million Series B round in February 2024, which valued the cloud-based AI infrastructure provider at $3.3 billion.
Firmus Technologies
In September 2024, Singapore-based data center company Firmus Technologies raised approximately $215 million USD at a $1.2 billion valuation, with Nvidia among the investors. Firmus is developing an energy-efficient “AI factory” in Tasmania.
Sakana AI
Nvidia invested in Japan-based Sakana AI in September 2024. The startup trains low-cost generative AI models using small datasets and raised a $214 million Series A at a $1.5 billion valuation.
Nuro
In August 2024, Nvidia participated in a $203 million funding round for delivery-focused self-driving startup Nuro, which was valued at $6 billion, down from its 2021 peak of $8.6 billion.
Imbue
AI research lab Imbue, developing AI systems capable of reasoning and coding, raised $200 million in September 2023 with Nvidia among the investors.
Waabi
In June 2024, autonomous trucking startup Waabi raised $200 million in a Series B round co-led by Uber and Khosla Ventures, with Nvidia, Volvo Group Venture Capital, and Porsche also investing.
Deals Over $100 Million
Ayar Labs
In December 2024, Nvidia invested in Ayar Labs’ $155 million round. The company develops optical interconnects to improve AI compute and power efficiency. This marked Nvidia’s third investment in Ayar Labs.
Kore.ai
Kore.ai, which builds enterprise AI chatbots, raised $150 million in December 2023 with Nvidia among the investors.
Sandbox AQ
In April 2024, Nvidia joined Google and BNP Paribas in investing $150 million in Sandbox AQ, a startup developing large quantitative models for complex numerical and statistical analysis. This increased the company’s Series E round to $450 million and valuation to $5.75 billion.
Hippocratic AI
Healthcare-focused AI startup Hippocratic AI raised $141 million in a January 2025 Series B round led by Kleiner Perkins, with Nvidia participating. The company develops large language models for non-diagnostic patient-facing tasks.
Weka
In May 2024, Nvidia invested in a $140 million round for Weka, an AI-native data management platform valued at $1.6 billion.
Runway
Nvidia participated in Runway’s $308 million funding round in April 2024, which valued the generative AI media production startup at $3.55 billion.
Bright Machines
In June 2024, Nvidia invested in Bright Machines’ $126 million Series C round. The company focuses on smart robotics and AI-driven software.
Enfabrica
Nvidia invested in networking chip designer Enfabrica’s $125 million Series B round in September 2023 but did not participate in a subsequent $115 million round in November.
Reka AI
In July 2024, AI research lab Reka raised $110 million in a round including Nvidia and Snowflake, tripling its valuation to over $1 billion.
Looking Ahead
Nvidia’s aggressive investment strategy highlights its commitment to shaping the future of AI beyond hardware. By backing a diverse range of startups across AI infrastructure, autonomous systems, healthcare, and more, Nvidia is positioning itself as a central player in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
This post was first published in January 2025.