Crunchbase Data: Nvidia’s Startup Funding Deals Hit A Record. What’s Next After Huang?
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Before it was thrust into crisis this week, Nvidia was steadily continuing its pace as one of the busiest startup investors around, including backing many of the biggest venture deals of 2026. The chipmaker and its NVentures arm have participated in more than 120 startup funding deals so far this year, according to Crunchbase data, already topping last year’s record-setting pace and marking its most prolific year yet as a private-company investor. With co-founder Jensen Huang’s sudden departure this week amid reports of multiple extramarital affairs including with employees and a woman U.S. intelligence experts suspect of spying for China, we took a fresh look at where Nvidia and NVentures have been investing and what the future could hold. A widening investment footprint Nvidia is the most active corporate investor so far in 2026, an analysis of Crunchbase data shows. It and NVentures together are also among the top 20 most active investors in startups this year overall. Nvidia’s startup investments this year total 121 and span AI model developers, data center operators, robotics startups and healthcare companies. That continues the broad approach we examined last year, when the company and its venture arm participated in 91 known startup financings, up from 54 the year prior. The largest Nvidia-backed deals in 2026 include OpenAI’s Series G, which closed at $122 billion in March, and Anthropic’s $30 billion Series G in February. (Those figures represent the entire rounds, including other investors’ contributions, rather than Nvidia’s individual checks.) The company also participated in a $3.9 billion September Series F for AI infrastructure provider Crusoe and a roughly $3.5 billion September Series D for model developer Mistral AI. Of course, large as those deals are, Nvidia’s startup bets represent a small fraction of the company’s incredible market capitalization. Even as its share price tumbled this week with Huang’s departure and the surrounding news, Nvidia’s valuation remains close to $4 trillion. Beyond the biggest AI labs NVentures’ activity shows how far that investment footprint extends beyond the best-known model developers. The venture arm’s larger bets this year include robot intelligence developer Skild AI’s $1.4 billion January Series C, and autonomous driving startup Waabi’s $750 million Series C in the same month. It also backed two rounds for Bedrock Robotics, which develops technology to automate construction equipment: a $270 million Series B in February and a $600 million Series C in October. Its healthcare investments included a $150 million April Series E for medical imaging AI company Aidoc. As in years past, Nvidia and NVentures usually participate alongside other investors. The company or its venture arm are listed as lead or co-lead investors in about 1 in 5 of its deals this year, per Crunchbase data. For startups, Nvidia’s value as an investor also extends beyond its deep pockets. NVentures describes its offering as access to technical teams, technology integrations and help reaching customers. The question of what comes next Nvidia’s new leadership could bring a different approach to risk. Before this week’s news, CFO and now interim CEO Collette Kress had pushed back on Huang’s increasingly large AI investments, Reuters reported this week, citing two people familiar with the matter. Nvidia’s board has said it expects operations, customer commitments and its product roadmap to continue without interruption. That assurance leaves the pace of future investments an open question. With earnings scheduled for Nov. 17, founders and investors will be watching for signs of how much of Huang’s investment playbook continues under new leadership. Related Crunchbase query: Related reading: Illustration: Dom Guzman Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily.
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