Nvidia Courts India's AI Founders Before They Even Incorporate
Nvidia is pushing deeper into India's artificial intelligence startup ecosystem, launching a series of partnerships designed to reach founders before they've formally established companies—a strategic shift aimed at locking in future customers in one of the world's fastest-growing developer markets.
The chipmaker unveiled this week a collaboration with early-stage venture firm Activate, which plans to back 25 to 30 AI startups from its $75 million debut fund while providing portfolio companies with preferential access to Nvidia's technical expertise. The deal follows other India-focused initiatives announced this week, including support for nonprofit AI Grants India and new relationships with venture firms focused on South Asia.
For finance leaders watching the AI infrastructure wars, the timing is revealing. Nvidia is making these moves as India hosts its AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, an event drawing OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google—essentially everyone competing for the same pool of AI talent and customers. CEO Jensen Huang was scheduled to attend but canceled due to what the company described as unforeseen circumstances, sending executive vice president Jay Puri and a senior delegation instead to meet with researchers, startups, developers, and partners on the ground.
The strategic calculus here is straightforward: India has emerged as a critical pool of AI developers and startups, and Nvidia wants to be embedded in these companies' technology stacks before they scale. By working with founders at the earliest stages—even pre-incorporation—the company is positioning itself to capture long-term chip and computing software demand as AI-native companies grow.
Aakrit Vaish, founder of Activate, noted that Nvidia's engagement with Indian startups has historically been "relatively light-touch" compared with its approach in the United States. That's changing. The chipmaker is now looking to work with founders "much earlier in their journey," Vaish said, and Activate aims to leverage that shift by connecting portfolio startups with Nvidia's resources from day one.
The implications for corporate finance teams are worth considering. When your AI vendors are built on Nvidia infrastructure from inception, that creates downstream dependencies that show up in procurement decisions, vendor concentration risk, and ultimately in your own technology spending patterns. It's the classic platform play: get in early, become indispensable, and watch as switching costs compound over time.
The question for CFOs evaluating AI investments: how much of your "AI transformation" budget is really just Nvidia budget with extra steps? As the chipmaker deepens its grip on the startup ecosystem—particularly in high-growth markets like India—that question becomes harder to answer. And that, of course, is exactly the point.
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