Nvidia Backs Record 121 Startups in 2026

A record year in the middle of a crisis

Nvidia and its NVentures arm have participated in more than 120 startup funding deals so far in 2026, according to Crunchbase data — its most prolific year yet as a private-company investor, topping last year's record-setting pace.

The company and its venture arm had already participated in 91 known startup financings in 2025, up from 54 the year before.

All of this happened before co-founder Jensen Huang's sudden resignation this week thrust the company into crisis, leaving the fate of its aggressive investing playbook suddenly uncertain.

The megadeals behind the record

Per Crunchbase, the largest Nvidia-backed rounds of 2026 include OpenAI's Series G, which closed at $122 billion in March, and Anthropic's $30 billion Series G in February — figures representing the entire rounds, not Nvidia's individual checks.

The company also joined 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.

NVentures' bets reach well beyond the best-known labs, spanning AI model developers, data center operators, robotics startups and healthcare companies.

Beyond OpenAI: robots, roads and hospitals

Crunchbase reports NVentures' larger bets this year included robot intelligence developer Skild AI's $1.4 billion January Series C and autonomous driving startup Waabi's $750 million Series C the same month.

It backed two rounds for Bedrock Robotics, which automates construction equipment — a $270 million Series B in February and a $600 million Series C in October — plus a $150 million April Series E for medical imaging AI company Aidoc.

Nvidia or NVentures lead or co-lead about 1 in 5 of its deals this year, and the venture arm pitches startups access to technical teams, technology integrations and help reaching customers.

Why this record was Huang's playbook

The investing spree has been a personal signature of Huang's era: Nvidia is the most active corporate investor of 2026 and, with NVentures, among the top 20 most active startup investors overall, per Crunchbase.

Yet these bets are a small fraction of a company still valued near $4 trillion even after this week's stock tumble.

That scale is exactly why the succession matters — Reuters reports that interim CEO and CFO Collette Kress had, before this week, pushed back on Huang's increasingly large AI investments, citing two people familiar with the matter.

What comes next for founders chasing Nvidia checks

Nvidia's board has said operations, customer commitments and its product roadmap will continue without interruption, but the pace of future investments remains an open question.

Earnings are scheduled for Nov. 17, and Crunchbase notes founders and investors will be watching for signs of how much of Huang's investment playbook survives under new leadership.

The scandal has even produced odd side effects: vietnam.vn reports a 24-year-old Singaporean AI founder who shares the name Jensen Huang drew about 5,000 extra website visits and applied to Y Combinator on the wave of attention.

Sources

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