Nvidia's AI Investment Strategy: $100M+ Startup Deals Explained (2025)

Nvidia's AI Empire: Unveiling the Billion-Dollar Startup Investments

The AI revolution has crowned a new king: Nvidia. Since the rise of ChatGPT and the ensuing generative AI frenzy, Nvidia's revenue, profits, and cash reserves have skyrocketed, propelling its market cap to a staggering $4.5 trillion. But here's where it gets controversial: Nvidia's success isn't just about selling GPUs; it's about strategically investing in the AI ecosystem.

The Billion-Dollar Club:

• OpenAI: Nvidia's $100 million investment in October 2024 was a drop in the ocean compared to OpenAI's $6.6 billion round, valuing the company at $157 billion. But Nvidia's commitment didn't stop there; it pledged a staggering $100 billion strategic partnership to deploy AI infrastructure.
• xAI: Despite OpenAI's request, Nvidia invested in Elon Musk's xAI, joining a $6 billion round. It will also invest up to $2 billion in xAI's planned funding round, structured to facilitate Nvidia gear purchases.
• Mistral AI: Nvidia's third investment in the French LLM developer raised €1.7 billion in Series C, valuing the company at €11.7 billion post-money.
• Reflection AI: Nvidia led a $2 billion funding round for this young startup, positioning it as a US-based DeepSeek competitor with a $8 billion valuation.
• Thinking Machines Lab: Nvidia backed Mira Murati's startup in a $2 billion seed round, valuing it at $12 billion.
• Inflection: Co-founded by DeepMind's Mustafa Suleyman, Inflection received a $1.3 billion investment from Nvidia. However, Microsoft's $620 million license acquisition left the company with a diminished workforce and uncertain future.
• Nscale: Nvidia participated in Nscale's $1.1 billion round and a subsequent $433 million SAFE funding, securing future equity. Nscale builds data centers for OpenAI's Stargate project.
• Wayve: Nvidia's involvement in Wayve's $1.05 billion round and an expected additional $500 million investment highlight its commitment to autonomous driving.
• Figure AI: Nvidia's investment in Figure AI's Series C valued the humanoid robotics startup at $39 billion. Its initial $675 million Series B investment in 2024 showcased its early belief in the company.
• Scale AI: Nvidia joined Accel, Amazon, and Meta in a $1 billion investment, valuing Scale AI at nearly $14 billion. Meta later invested $14.3 billion for a 49% stake and hired key personnel.

The Many-Hundreds-of-Millions Club:

• Commonwealth Fusion: Nvidia, alongside Google and Bill Gates, invested in this nuclear fusion startup's $863 million round, valuing it at $3 billion.
• Crusoe: This data center startup, reportedly leased to tech giants, raised $686 million, with Nvidia among its investors.
• Cohere: Nvidia has backed Cohere across multiple rounds, including a $500 million Series D, valuing it at $6.8 billion.
• Perplexity: Nvidia's early investment in Perplexity continued through most subsequent rounds, valuing the AI search engine at $18 billion. However, it didn't participate in the startup's $200 million September round, which boosted its valuation to $20 billion.
• Poolside: Nvidia joined Bain Capital Ventures in a $500 million round for this AI coding assistant startup, valuing it at $3 billion.
• Lambda: AI cloud provider Lambda raised a $480 million Series D, with Nvidia among its investors, valuing the company at $2.5 billion. Lambda's business includes renting servers powered by Nvidia's GPUs.
• CoreWeave: Nvidia invested in GPU-cloud provider CoreWeave when it was still a startup, becoming a significant shareholder.
• Together AI: Nvidia participated in a $305 million Series B for this cloud-based AI infrastructure company, valuing it at $3.3 billion.
• Firmus Technologies: This Singapore-based data center company received $330 million in funding, with Nvidia as an investor, to develop an energy-efficient AI factory in Australia.
• Sakana AI: Nvidia invested in this Japan-based startup, which trains AI models using small datasets, raising a massive $214 million Series A round at a $1.5 billion valuation.
• Nuro: Nvidia backed the self-driving delivery startup in a $203 million round, valuing it at $6 billion, a 30% drop from its peak.
• Imbue: The AI research lab raised a $200 million round from investors, including Nvidia, to develop AI systems with reasoning and coding capabilities.
• Waabi: The autonomous trucking startup raised a $200 million Series B round, with Nvidia among its investors.

Deals Over $100 Million:

• Ayar Labs: Nvidia's third investment in Ayar Labs was a $155 million round, focusing on AI infrastructure improvements.
• Kore.ai: The enterprise AI chatbot startup raised $150 million, with Nvidia and other investors participating.
• Sandbox AQ: Nvidia, Google, and others invested $150 million in this startup developing large quantitative models, increasing its valuation to $5.75 billion.
• Hippocratic AI: This healthcare-focused startup raised a $141 million Series B round, with Nvidia and other investors, claiming its AI can handle patient-facing tasks.
• Weka: Nvidia invested in Weka's $140 million round, valuing the AI-native data management platform at $1.6 billion.
• Runway: Nvidia participated in Runway's $308 million round, valuing the generative AI media production startup at $3.55 billion.
• Bright Machines: Nvidia invested in a $126 million Series C round for this smart robotics and AI software startup.
• Enfabrica: Nvidia invested in Enfabrica's $125 million Series B round, but not in its subsequent $115 million round.
• Reka AI: Snowflake and Nvidia backed Reka AI in a $110 million round, tripling its valuation to over $1 billion.

Nvidia's investment strategy is bold and far-reaching, sparking questions about its impact on the AI landscape. Is Nvidia's approach to investing in startups a game-changer, or is it a risky move that could lead to potential conflicts of interest? Share your thoughts in the comments!