Nvidia Joined a Record 121 Startup Rounds This Year Before Huang's Exit, Crunchbase Says

Crunchbase News published the figures on Friday. Nvidia took part in 91 known startup financings in 2025, up from 54 the year before. Together, Nvidia and NVentures also rank among the 20 most active startup investors of any kind this year, the analysis found.

The numbers matter now because the strategy behind them was closely associated with Jensen Huang, who resigned as chief executive this week. Reuters reported this week, citing two people familiar with the matter, that chief financial officer Colette Kress, now interim chief executive, had pushed back on Huang's increasingly large AI investments before his departure.

The largest rounds Nvidia joined this year are among the biggest in venture history. They include OpenAI's Series G, which closed at $122 billion in March, and Anthropic's $30 billion Series G in February. Nvidia also backed a $3.9 billion Series F for AI infrastructure company Crusoe in September and a Series D of roughly $3.5 billion for French model developer Mistral AI in the same month. Crunchbase noted that these totals cover entire rounds, not the size of Nvidia's own cheques.

NVentures has invested well beyond the big model labs. Its larger bets this year include a $1.4 billion Series C for robotics software developer Skild AI and a $750 million Series C for autonomous driving company Waabi, both in January. 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. In healthcare, it took part in a $150 million Series E for medical imaging company Aidoc in April.

Nvidia usually invests alongside others. Crunchbase found it was lead or co-lead investor in about one in five of its 2026 deals. NVentures promotes itself to founders as a route to Nvidia's technical teams, technology integrations and customers, not only its money.

The investments are small next to the company's size. Even after this week's fall in its shares, Nvidia's market value remains close to $4 trillion. But they have tied Nvidia's balance sheet to many of its own largest customers, from AI labs to data centre operators, at a time when Nvidia faces congressional scrutiny over how its chips reached China.

Nvidia's board has said it expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption. It has said nothing specific about the investment programme. Founders and investors will be looking for any signal on that when Nvidia reports quarterly results on November 17, its first earnings release under interim leadership.