Nvidia’s AI empire: A look at its top startup investments

Summary

No company has capitalized on the AI revolution more dramatically than Nvidia. Its revenue, profitability, and cash reserves have skyrocketed since the introduction of ChatGPT over two years ago — and the many competitive generative AI services that have launched since. Its stock price has soared, making it a $4.5 trillion market cap company. The world’s leading high-performance GPU maker has used its ballooning fortunes to significantly increase investments in startups, particularly in AI. Nvidia has participated in 50 venture capital deals so far in 2025, already surpassing the 48 deals the company completed in all of 2024, according to PitchBook data. Note that these investments exclude those made by its formal corporate VC fund, NVentures, which also significantly increased its investment pace over that period. (PitchBook says NVentures engaged in 21 deals this year, compared to just one in 2022.) Nvidia has stated that the goal of its corporate investing is to expand the AI ecosystem by backing startups it considers to be “game changers and market makers.” Below is a list of startups that raised rounds exceeding $100 million since 2023 where Nvidia is a named participant, organized from the highest to lowest amount raised in the round. This list shows just how far and wide Nvidia has spread its tentacles in the tech industry, beyond supplying its products. The billion-dollar-round club OpenAI: Nvidia backed the ChatGPT maker for the first time in October 2024, reportedly writing a $100 million check as part of a colossal $6.6 billion round that valued the company at $157 billion. The chipmaker’s investment was dwarfed by OpenAI’s other backers, notably Thrive, which according to the New York Times invested $1.3 billion. While PitchBook data indicates Nvidia did not participate in OpenAI’s $40 billion funding round that closed in March, the chipmaker announced in September that it would invest up to $100 billion in the company over time, structured as a strategi...