Nvidia’s 2026 startup deal count already tops last year’s record

By Nathan Brooks

Crunchbase data shows Nvidia and NVentures participated in 121 startup funding deals in 2026, surpassing 91 known financings in 2025 and setting a record for investment in private companies. Nvidia is the most active corporate investor so far this year, according to Crunchbase’s analysis.

Nvidia and NVentures also rank among the top 20 startup investors overall. Their 121 deals span AI model developers, data center operators, robotics startups and healthcare companies, extending well beyond the best-known AI labs.

Crunchbase recorded 91 known financings involving Nvidia and NVentures in 2025, up from 54 in 2024. That pace continues the broad approach Crunchbase examined last year, with capital still spread across model development, infrastructure, robotics and healthcare.

NVentures describes its offering as “access to technical teams, technology integrations and help reaching customers.” For founders, that support extends beyond capital. Nvidia and NVentures usually participate alongside other investors. Crunchbase lists them as lead or co-lead investors in about one in five 2026 deals.

A record deployment of capital

Crunchbase identifies four of the largest Nvidia-backed rounds in 2026:

• OpenAI closed its Series G at $122 billion in March.
• Anthropic’s Series G reached $30 billion in February.
• Crusoe Energy Systems’ Series F for AI infrastructure reached $3.9 billion in September.
• Mistral AI’s Series D for model development reached roughly $3.5 billion in September.

The figures represent entire rounds, including other investors’ contributions, rather than Nvidia’s individual checks. That distinction keeps the scale of the announced financings separate from the size of Nvidia’s own exposure.

Even after Nvidia’s share price tumbled this week amid Jensen Huang’s departure and surrounding news, Crunchbase reported the chipmaker’s valuation remained close to $4 trillion. The startup portfolio remains a small fraction of that value, even as its deal count reaches a record.

Beyond the AI labs

NVentures’ largest 2026 commitments reached into robotics, autonomous driving, construction and healthcare, according to Crunchbase:

• Skild AI, a robot intelligence developer, saw its Series C reach $1.4 billion in January.
• Waabi, an autonomous driving startup, saw its Series C reach $750 million in January.
• Bedrock Robotics, which develops technology to automate construction equipment, raised a $270 million Series B in February and a $600 million Series C in October.
• Aidoc, a medical imaging AI company, raised a $150 million Series E in April.

The leadership context complicates the financing outlook. Crunchbase reported Jensen Huang’s sudden departure this week amid reports of multiple extramarital affairs, including relationships with employees. Reuters cited a relationship with a second employee, while The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence experts suspect a woman involved was spying for China.

What does Huang’s departure change for startup founders?

For founders, the board’s answer is continuity on current operations, not certainty on future financing. Nvidia’s board said it expects “operations, customer commitments and its product roadmap to continue without interruption.” That assurance does not settle the size or risk profile of future startup checks.

Crunchbase said new leadership could bring a different approach to risk. Reuters reported this week, citing two people familiar, that CFO and now interim CEO Collette Kress had pushed back on Huang’s increasingly large AI investments before the departure news. Her prior pushback makes the pace of Huang’s large AI commitments a specific test for investors.

Founders and investors will watch the Nov. 17 earnings for signs of how much of Huang’s investment playbook continues, according to Crunchbase. The board’s assurance covers current commitments, while the financing outlook remains unsettled.

For startup founders, the Nov. 17 earnings call is the next concrete test of whether Nvidia’s record 2026 investment pace survives Kress’s interim leadership.