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 Morningstar, told CNBC.
These are all the European tech companies Nvidia, or its venture arm NVentures, invested in last year and the total size of the round it participated in, per Dealroom.
Mistral
Round: 1.7 billion euros, September
One of Europe’s leading AI labs, French startup Mistral is building models aiming to rival those produced by the likes of OpenAI and Google. Before participating in Mistral’s 1.7 billion euro Series C funding round in September, which valued the company at 11.7 billion euros ($13.6 billion), the chip giant invested in the AI company’s Series B in 2024.
Nscale
Rounds: $1.1 billion, September and $433 million, October
Nscale, which is building data centers and provides AI cloud computing services, courted Nvidia throughout 2025, with the chip giant’s CEO, Jensen Huang, announcing in September it would invest £500 million into the company. The UK-based startup promptly announced two rounds, both featuring Nvidia, at the end of September and the start of October.
Quantinuum
Round: $600 million, September
Quantum computing company Quantinuum announced a fresh funding round, backed by Nvidia, in September which saw it valued at $10 billion. The raise will support continued progress toward the upcoming launch of the company’s next-generation quantum computing system Helios.
Lovable
Round: $330 million, December
Nvidia participated in vibe coding startup Lovable’s Series B in December, which saw it hit a valuation of $6.6 billion. One of Alphabet’s VC divisions and Menlo Ventures led the round.
Black Forest Labs
Round: $300m, December
German AI lab Black Forest Labs, which is developing frontier AI models for visual content, announced a $300 million raise in December at a $3.25 billion valuation. Nvidia participated, alongside A16z, General Catalyst and Salesforce Ventures.
N8n
Round: $180 million, October
In October, Nvidia joined N8n’s Series C, which valued it at $2.5 billion, alongside VCs Accel, Meritech and Redpoint. The German startup automates enterprise workflows.
CuspAI
Round: $100 million, September
UK-based CuspAI is building an AI materials discovery platform and garnered investment from Nvidia in a $100 million round announced in September.
PolyAI
Round: $86 million, December
NVentures participated in PolyAI’s $86 million Series D in December. The British startup develops AI voice assistants for customer service. NVentures previously backed the company in a $50 million Series C in May 2024.
Charm Therapeutics
Round: $80 million, September
British biotech company Charm Therapeutics announced an $80 million raise, featuring Nvidia, in September. The chip giant previously invested $20 million in the company in 2023.
Scintil Photonics
Round: 50 million euros, September
Scintil Photonics is a fabless semiconductor company that develops silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs), designed to solve data transfer bottlenecks in AI data centers. Nvidia participated in the French company’s September Series B alongside Bosch Ventures, Bpifrance and Innovacom.
PhysicsX
Round: $20 million, November
The UK-based company is developing an AI platform which helps manufacturing organizations simulate physics in physical systems design. Nvidia invested $20 million in the company in November, with rights to commit $80 million more to the startup’s next round.
Cassava Technologies
Round: Amount not disclosed, October
UK-based Cassava Technologies, which provides internet services and data center infrastructure in Africa, announced Nvidia had made an equity investment into the company in October.
Revolut
Round: Amount not disclosed, November
The fintech giant announced Nvidia had bought shares in the company at a $75 billion valuation in November. UK-based Revolut is Europe’s highest valued startup.