Nvidia has emerged as a leading investor in artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups this year, leveraging its dominant position in AI processors. The Silicon Valley-based company disclosed investments in over two dozen firms, ranging from large AI platforms valued in the billions to smaller start-ups applying AI in sectors like healthcare and energy.
Dealroom estimates indicate that Nvidia participated in 35 deals in 2023, marking a significant increase from the previous ye.ar In this remarkable year for AI dealmaking, Nvidia surpassed major venture firms in Silicon Valley to become the most active large-scale investor in AI, as reported by Dealroom.
The chipmaker’s quarterly filings reveal investments of $872 million in “non affiliates,” including NVentures and corporate deals, during the nine months ending in October. This figure is more than ten times higher than the corresponding period last year.
Mohamed Siddeek, head of Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures, emphasized the company’s focus on investing in relevant companies that utilize Nvidia products. The portfolio now includes notable companies such as Inflection AI and Cohere, both major competitors to OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.
Nvidia’s investments also extend to Hugging Face, CoreWeave, and Mistral, with a common thread being that all these companies are Nvidia customers employing its GPU chips or software.
Nvidia’s investment approach involves using its own balance sheet to write substantial checks, with NVentures seeking healthy returns and the corporate development team pursuing more strategic goals.
While some start-ups see partnering with Nvidia as a strategic advantage, Nvidia denies imposing special conditions on these companies to ensure the use of its chips.
Despite the perceived advantages, Nvidia maintains a commitment to being investor-friendly and denies providing preferential access to its chips for portfolio companies.