Nvidia was in 1 in 11 startup rounds over $100M last year

The analysis examines investor participation in large private-company equity raises announced from October 2025 through September 2026. Of 949 rounds worth at least $100 million, 903 named at least one investor. NVIDIA or its venture arm, NVentures, appeared in 79 of those rounds - about one in eleven - more than any venture firm. NVIDIA alone was named in 65, behind Sequoia’s 75 and Andreessen Horowitz’s 73, but ahead of other major firms including Lightspeed, General Catalyst and Accel. The distinction matters: NVIDIA’s overall lead combines its corporate investing with its separately counted venture arm.

The findings also show that participation frequency and round size tell different stories. Fidelity joined fewer rounds than the leading venture firms, but its rounds averaged $7.7 billion, compared with $3.5 billion for rounds involving Sequoia. Corporate investors appeared in 38% of the sampled rounds, up from 35% in the prior year. After NVIDIA, the most active corporate investors were Salesforce, named in 32 rounds, and GV, in 29; no other corporate investor came close to NVIDIA’s 65 solo appearances. The central implication is that tracking large funding rounds through venture firms alone misses major players: strategics such as NVIDIA, Salesforce and GV belong alongside traditional funds. Counts include only investors named in coverage, whether leading or joining a round.