By Kai Nicol-Schwarz
Publication Date: 2026-01-26 14:31:00
Arthur Mensch of Mistral AI, Jensen Huang CEO of Nvidia, on stage at Vivatechnology, in Paris, France on June 11, 2025. (Photo by AUGUSTIN PASQUINI/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Augustin Pasquini | Afp | Getty Images
Nvidia has become something of an AI kingmaker as hyperscalers rush to build out AI capacity. It’s also got cash to burn and has ratcheted up its investments in European startups.
Last year, Nvidia participated in 14 rounds for European tech companies, according to deal-counting platform Dealroom, compared to seven in 2024, five in 2023, one in 2022 and none in 2021 or 2020.
The 14 European investments were among the 86 startup rounds it invested in globally that year.
Nvidia has been on a charm offensive within the industry as it looks to deepen its ties to some of the world’s most promising companies, offering technical expertise and supply chain assistance, alongside hard cash.
The trend has continued in 2026, with British AI startup Synthesia announcing on Monday that Nvidia had participated in the company’s $200 million Series E.
The chip giant’s spending spree is part of a wider push to deepen its ties to the world’s most promising startups as it looks to consolidate its position as AI leader.
“Nvidia’s investments in European AI firms appear to mirror its broader, global strategy of taking its excess cash and reinvesting in the AI ecosystem across a host of startups,” Brian Colello, senior equity analyst at…
