Nvidia has been one of the major beneficiaries of the AI boom in recent years. Its share price has skyrocketed as demand’s swelled for its AI chips, and its revenue in Q3 2024 topped $35bn.
Some of that fortune has trickled down to startups — as Nvidia has looked to turn customers into portfolio companies.
The tech giant pumped nearly $2bn in AI companies in 2023 and 2024, across 89 startup rounds and several corporate deals, reported the FT.
European tech companies picked up 10 of those startup rounds, according to data from Dealroom — in some of the region’s most headline-making rounds of the past two years.
Here are the startups that have cashed in on Nvidia’s AI gold rush.
Nvidia’s 2024 investments
Varjo, November 2024
Nvidia backed Finnish extended reality startup Varjo in an undisclosed round in November last year. The company is developing tech for virtual and mixed reality and also counts the likes of Atomico and EQT Ventures among its cap table.
Orbital Materials, October 2024
UK-based Orbital Materials is building foundational AI models for materials design and raised an undisclosed round from Nvidia in 2024. Other investors in the company include Fly Ventures and Toyota Ventures.
Founded in 2022, Orbital Materials claims its AI models for advanced materials outcompete proprietary models from Google and Microsoft.
Poolside AI, October 2024
Nvidia was an investor in France-based Poolside’s $500m Series B in October last year — joining a cap table that also includes the likes of Bain Capital Ventures and DST Global. The round gave the startup a $3bn valuation.
Poolside — which is building AI models that can create software code — initially turned heads back in 2023 when it relocated from the US to France and raised a $126m seed round, led by French billionaire Xavier Niel.
Mistral AI, June 2024
Nvidia joined the cap table of Europe’s LLM darling Mistral when it raised €600m at a €5.8bn valuation — which came just six months on from a €385m Series A (which Nvidia did not participate in).
While initially hailed as a rare European contender in the LLM space — in the face of far better capitalised US rivals like OpenAI and Google — Mistral’s models have recently lost ground to those companies and emerging Chinese player DeepSeek.
The French startup is under mounting pressure to prove it is still able to compete on the global stage.
PolyAI, May 2024
Nvidia led a $50m Series C into UK-based PolyAI, a spinout from the University of Cambridge developing a machine learning platform for conversational AI, last year.
The startup is building an AI voice platform for use in sectors like customer service and has raised more than $100m in funding, according to Dealroom. Other investors include Amadeus Capital Partners, Air Street Capital and Entrepreneur First.
Wayve, May 2024
UK-based Wayve is building software for AVs. Nvidia participated in the company’s $1bn Series C last year.
At the time Wayve said the funds would be used to develop the startup’s technology and launch its first commercial products to car makers — though it’s yet to publicly announce any deals.
Founded in 2017, the company has been led by cofounder Alex Kendall as CEO since 2020. Using information from the startup itself and insider knowledge, Sifted mapped out the key individuals who hold the power at Wayve.
Nvidia’s 2023 investments
Aleph Alpha, June 2023
Nvidia participated in German AI startup Aleph Alpha’s $100m round in June 2023 — back when the company was working on building its own LLM.
It’s since ditched those ambitions to focus on developing a “generative AI operating system” to sell to B2B customers — such as large enterprises and local governments — to help them roll out AI in their organisations. Last week it released a new AI tool enabling customers to customise third-party models with different languages and industry-specific data.
Five months on from Nvidia’s round, Aleph Alpha raised $500m — including $375m in grant funding.
Synthesia, June 2023
Since Nvidia was involved in UK AI avatar startup Synthesia’s $90m Series C in 2023 — a round which made the company a unicorn — it’s gone on to pick up another $180m (which the tech giant wasn’t involved in).
Synthesia is building a platform that allows enterprise customers to create AI-generated avatars for videos to be used in learning and development, customer support, marketing and sales functions.
The startup told Sifted that fresh funding would be used to invest in research and development and support the startup’s expansion in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.
Moon Surgical, May 2023
France-based Moon Surgical raised a $55m round from investors including Nvidia in May 2023, as it looked to scale its robotic surgical assistant, Maestro, which helps surgeons during minimally invasive soft tissue surgery.
Moon Surgical has raised $92m since launching in 2019, and other investors include Soffinova Partners and pharma company Johnson and Johnson’s venture arm.
Charm Therapeutics, April 2023
Nvidia invested $20m into London-based AI drug discovery startup Charm Therapeutics in 2023 — following a $50m Series A the previous year that featured General Catalyst and Khosla Ventures.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/nvidia-european-investments/
