Jensen Huang’s departure blasts big hole in AI startup funding, VCs and founders say
Investors expect smaller Nvidia checks and lower startup valuations as Huang’s personally driven dealmaking gives way to new leadership.
Nvidia participated in 105 funding rounds this year, often as the largest investor, according to PitchBook. Investors expect interim CEO Colette Kress to take a more conservative approach, leaving expensive neocloud, inference and open-weight model projects particularly exposed. Rival chipmakers and cloud providers could fill some of the gap, but Battery Ventures’ Dharmesh Thakker doubts they will match Nvidia’s willingness to put hundreds of millions into pre-revenue infrastructure startups. A pullback could also give competitors room to challenge the chipmaker, whose investments helped tie startups to its hardware.
TechCrunch AI's note
Nvidia participated in 105 funding rounds this year, often as the largest investor, according to PitchBook. Investors expect interim CEO Colette Kress to take a more conservative approach, leaving expensive neocloud, inference and open-weight model projects particularly exposed. Rival chipmakers and cloud providers could fill some of the gap, but Battery Ventures’ Dharmesh Thakker doubts they will match Nvidia’s willingness to put hundreds of millions into pre-revenue infrastructure startups. A pullback could also give competitors room to challenge the chipmaker, whose investments helped tie startups to its hardware.
TechCrunch AI's note
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