Nvidia’s AI Kingdom: Unveiling the Top Startup Investments

Nvidia has emerged as a dominant force in the AI industry, experiencing remarkable growth in revenue, profitability, and cash reserves following the introduction of ChatGPT and other competitive generative AI services. With its stock price reaching new heights, Nvidia now boasts a market cap of $4.6 trillion.

As a leading high-performance GPU manufacturer, Nvidia has leveraged its financial success to ramp up investments in AI-focused startups, aiming to foster innovation and drive the expansion of the AI ecosystem.

In 2025, Nvidia significantly increased its venture capital activities, participating in 67 deals compared to 54 deals in 2024. This surge in investment activity reflects the company’s commitment to supporting startups deemed as “game changers and market makers” in the AI space.

The following list showcases startups that have secured funding exceeding $100 million since 2023, with Nvidia playing a notable role in their growth and development.

The billion-dollar-round club

OpenAI: Nvidia became an investor in OpenAI in October 2024, contributing to a monumental $6.6 billion funding round that valued the company at $157 billion. While Nvidia’s investment in OpenAI is part of a strategic partnership, uncertainties remain regarding the actualization of the proposed investment amount.

Anthropic: Nvidia made a strategic investment in Anthropic in November 2025, joining forces with Microsoft in a round that emphasized mutual collaboration and future technology deployment.

Cursor: In another strategic move, Nvidia invested in Cursor, an AI-powered code assistant, as part of a Series D round that positioned the startup for accelerated growth and innovation.

xAI: Despite OpenAI’s efforts to deter investments in rival companies, Nvidia backed Elon Musk’s xAI initiative, demonstrating its commitment to fostering diverse technological advancements within the AI landscape.

Mistral AI: Nvidia continued its support for Mistral AI, a French-based large language model developer, contributing to the company’s growth and expansion in the AI sector.

Reflection AI: Nvidia’s involvement in Reflection AI’s funding round underscored the company’s interest in emerging U.S.-based AI competitors, positioning itself strategically in the global AI market.

Thinking Machines Lab: Nvidia’s investment in Thinking Machines Lab, led by former OpenAI executives, marked a significant milestone in the company’s AI investment portfolio, reflecting a commitment to cutting-edge AI research and development.

Inflection: Nvidia’s early investment in Inflection, founded by a notable AI industry figure, yielded unconventional outcomes, highlighting the dynamic nature of the tech investment landscape.

Crusoe: Nvidia’s participation in Crusoe’s Series E round showcased the company’s role in supporting key infrastructure projects critical for advancing AI capabilities.

Nscale: By investing in Nscale’s innovative data center projects, Nvidia reinforced its commitment to powering AI initiatives and facilitating technological advancements.

Wayve: Nvidia’s contribution to Wayve’s autonomous driving system development exemplified the company’s dedication to shaping the future of transportation through AI-driven solutions.

Figure AI: Nvidia’s involvement in Figure AI’s humanoid robotics endeavors highlighted the company’s support for cutting-edge technologies that redefine traditional industries.

Scale AI: Partnering with industry leaders, Nvidia invested in Scale AI, further solidifying its position in the data labeling services sector and supporting companies in their AI training endeavors.

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

Commonwealth Fusion: Nvidia’s participation in Commonwealth Fusion’s funding round highlighted the company’s interest in cutting-edge energy technologies and sustainable solutions.

Cohere: Through investments in Cohere’s enterprise LLM services, Nvidia showcased its commitment to supporting AI applications across diverse industries.

Perplexity: Nvidia’s continued support for Perplexity’s AI search engine development emphasized the company’s role in fostering advanced AI solutions for complex data analysis.

Poolside: Nvidia’s investment in Poolside’s AI coding assistant highlighted the company’s interest in AI-driven software solutions that enhance developer productivity.

Lambda: By supporting Lambda’s AI cloud services, Nvidia demonstrated its commitment to enabling scalable AI infrastructure and model training capabilities.

Black Forest Labs: Nvidia’s participation in Black Forest Labs’ image generation models development showcased the company’s interest in cutting-edge AI applications in the visual domain.

CoreWeave: Nvidia’s early investment in CoreWeave’s GPU-cloud services highlighted the company’s strategic foresight in supporting emerging technologies.

Together AI: Nvidia’s involvement in Together AI’s cloud-based infrastructure development underscored the company’s commitment to advancing AI model building capabilities.

Firmus Technologies: By supporting Firmus Technologies’ data center innovations, Nvidia showcased its interest in energy-efficient AI infrastructure solutions.

Uniphore: Nvidia’s participation in Uniphore’s Business AI platform development highlighted the company’s role in advancing AI applications across various enterprise sectors.

Sakana AI: Nvidia’s investment in Sakana AI’s generative AI models development reflected the company’s interest in fostering AI innovation using minimal datasets.

Nuro: By supporting Nuro’s self-driving delivery solutions, Nvidia demonstrated its commitment to advancing autonomous vehicle technologies.

Imbue: Nvidia’s investment in Imbue’s AI reasoning and coding systems development highlighted the company’s interest in cutting-edge AI applications.

Waabi: By investing in Waabi’s autonomous trucking solutions, Nvidia showcased its commitment to shaping the future of transportation through AI-driven innovations.

Deals of over a $100 million

Ayar Labs: Nvidia’s investment in Ayar Labs’ optical interconnect technologies emphasized the company’s interest in enhancing AI compute efficiency through innovative solutions.

Kore.ai: Nvidia’s involvement in Kore.ai’s enterprise AI chatbot development highlighted the company’s commitment to advancing conversational AI technologies.

Sandbox AQ: By supporting Sandbox AQ’s quantitative modeling solutions, Nvidia showcased its interest in cutting-edge numerical analysis and statistical computation technologies.

Hippocratic AI: Nvidia’s investment in Hippocratic AI’s healthcare-focused language models development underscored the company’s role in advancing AI applications in the medical sector.

Weka: Nvidia’s participation in Weka’s data management platform development highlighted the company’s interest in AI-native solutions for data processing and analysis.

Runway: By investing in Runway’s generative AI models for media production, Nvidia showcased its commitment to fostering innovative AI applications in the creative industry.

Bright Machines: Nvidia’s support for Bright Machines’ smart robotics and AI software development highlighted the company’s interest in advancing automation technologies.

Enfabrica: Nvidia’s early investment in Enfabrica’s networking chips design emphasized the company’s interest in cutting-edge hardware technologies.

Reka AI: By participating in Reka AI’s AI research initiatives, Nvidia showcased its commitment to advancing AI technologies across diverse applications.

This article was originally published in January 2025.