Nvidia has emerged as the biggest winner of the AI boom. Since the release of ChatGPT more than two years ago, the company’s revenue, profits, and market capitalization have skyrocketed, turning it into a $4.5 trillion powerhouse. Now, Nvidia is strategically channeling its vast resources into AI-related startups, shaping the next generation of the global AI ecosystem.
The surge in investment activity is unprecedented.
According to PitchBook data, Nvidia has already participated in 50 venture capital deals in 2025 alone, surpassing the 48 investments it made in 2024. This figure excludes those made through its corporate VC arm, NVentures, which has completed 21 investments this year compared to just one in 2022.
Nvidia has stated that its corporate investment policy is focused on strengthening the AI ecosystem by supporting industry innovators and market leaders. Through these investments, the company is extending its influence beyond GPU sales to establish long-term partnerships across the entire AI value chain, from model developers to cloud infrastructure providers.
The $1 Billion Investment Club
Nvidia has taken part in several of the largest AI funding rounds in recent years.
- OpenAI: In October 2024, Nvidia invested $100 million in OpenAI’s $6.6 billion round, which valued the company at $157 billion. Nvidia has since pledged to invest up to $100 billion more as part of a strategic infrastructure alliance.
- xAI: The company joined Elon Musk’s xAI during its $6 billion round in December and plans to contribute to an additional $2 billion equity financing aimed at expanding xAI’s compute infrastructure with Nvidia hardware.
- Mistral AI: Nvidia participated in the French startup’s $1.7 billion Series C round in September 2025, valuing Mistral at $13.5 billion.
- Reflection AI: In October, Nvidia joined a $2 billion funding round for Reflection AI, valuing the one-year-old U.S. company at $8 billion. Reflection AI develops open-source AI models competing with DeepSeek in China.
- Thinking Machines Lab: Nvidia invested in Mira Murati’s new AI venture, valued at $12 billion, participating in its $2 billion seed round.
- Inflection AI: Nvidia joined Inflection’s $1.3 billion round in 2023. Microsoft later acquired its founders and licensed its technology for $620 million.
- Nscale: Nvidia took part in Nscale’s $433 million SAFE round, part of a $1.1 billion raise to establish AI data centers in the UK and Norway under OpenAI’s Stargate project.
- Wayve: Nvidia invested $1 billion in May 2024 in Wayve, a U.K. autonomous driving startup developing self-learning AI systems.
- Figure AI: The company participated in the humanoid robotics startup’s $1 billion+ Series C round, valuing it at $39 billion.
- Scale AI: In May 2024, Nvidia invested in Scale AI’s $1 billion round, which valued the data labeling and infrastructure company at $14 billion.
Hundreds of Millions: Growing the Ecosystem
Beyond billion-dollar rounds, Nvidia has supported several high-potential startups that have raised hundreds of millions to advance AI, computing, and infrastructure innovation.
Notable examples include:
- Commonwealth Fusion ($863M): Nuclear fusion technology.
- Crusoe ($686M): Data centers for Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
- Cohere ($500M): Enterprise large language models.
- Perplexity ($500M): AI-based search engine.
- Poolside ($500M): AI coding assistant.
- Lambda ($480M): AI cloud and GPU training infrastructure.
- Together AI ($305M): Cloud development models.
- Firmus Technologies ($215M): Sustainable AI data centers in Tasmania.
- Sakana AI ($214M): Efficient generative AI models.
- Nuro ($203M): Autonomous delivery technology.
- Imbue ($200M): Coding and reasoning AI research.
- Waabi ($200M): Self-driving trucking solutions.
Emerging and Strategic Investments
Nvidia is also making smaller, strategic bets that could deliver long-term competitive advantages.
- Ayar Labs ($155M): Optical computing efficiency solutions.
- Kore.ai ($150M): Enterprise chatbot AI.
- Sandbox AQ ($150M): Quantitative and AI-based modeling.
- Hippocratic AI ($141M): AI healthcare assistants.
- Weka ($140M): AI-native data management.
- Runway ($308M): Generative AI tools for media creation.
- Bright Machines ($126M): Intelligent automation and robotics.
- Enfabrica ($125M): Network chip design.
- Reka AI ($110M): AI research lab valued at over $1 billion.
Outlook
Nvidia’s aggressive investment strategy has positioned it as the cornerstone of the global AI ecosystem. Its portfolio spans multiple sectors, including robotics, cloud infrastructure, large language models, and healthcare AI. This approach ensures Nvidia’s hardware remains central to the AI revolution for years to come.
