Nvidia is deepening its early-stage push into India’s AI startup ecosystem

Nvidia is ramping up its efforts to attract AI startups in India early in their life cycle, unveiling a series of partnerships this week aimed at reaching founders even before they formally establish their companies. This push aims to help the AI ​​chip maker grow relationships with future customers in one of the world’s fastest-growing developer markets.

The latest move comes through a partnership with venture startup Activate, which plans to back about 25 to 30 AI startups from its first $75 million fund, while giving portfolio companies preferential access to Nvidia’s technical expertise. The collaboration follows other India-focused efforts unveiled this week, including work with non-profit AI Grants India to support early-stage founders and new relationships with venture firms focused on the South Asian country.

The flurry of activity comes as India hosts the AI ​​Impact Summit in New Delhi, which is attracting major tech companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was scheduled to attend, but missed the event due to what the company described as unforeseen circumstances. Instead, a high-level delegation headed by Executive Vice President Jay Puri attended, meeting with AI researchers, startups, developers and partners on the ground.

India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing clusters of AI developers and startups, making it an increasingly important market for Nvidia as it looks to expand adoption of chips and computing software. By working more closely with early-stage founders, the company is putting itself in a position to absorb long-term demand as new AI-driven companies expand.

Nvidia’s engagement with startups in India has historically been relatively light compared to the US, but the chipmaker is now looking to work with founders much earlier in their journey, said Akrit Vaish, founder of Activate. Activate aims to capitalize on this shift by connecting startups directly with Nvidia experts.

The venture capital firm, which Vaish describes as focused on “seed investment,” meets technical teams months before the company is founded and works closely with them as they grow. Its backers include venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, Perplexity co-founder Aravind Srinivas, Peak

For Nvidia, the logic behind partnering with an early-stage venture company is straightforward: the more it builds relationships with promising AI startups early on, the more likely those companies are to rely on its computing infrastructure as they scale. Growing startups typically consume increasing amounts of AI compute over time, making early technical engagement valuable to a chipmaker as a way to generate future business, Vaish told TechCrunch.

Nvidia already has a significant presence in the country through its Inception programme, which supports over 4,000 startups in India. This week, the chipmaker also expanded its local ecosystem relationships, including partnerships with venture firms such as Accel, Peak XV, Z47, Elevation Capital and Nexus Venture Partners to identify and fund AI startups. Separately, it has collaborated with AI Grants India, co-founded by Vaibhav Dumkundwar and Bhasker (Bosky) Kudd, to support over 10,000 early-stage founders over the next 12 months.

The company has also expanded its reach in India over time. In November 2025, Nvidia joined the India Deep Tech Alliance, a consortium of US and Indian investors including Accel, Blume Ventures, Premji Invest and Celesta Capital, to provide strategic and technical guidance to emerging startups in the country.

Activate’s partnership with Nvidia is designed to provide a more structured layer in addition to the company’s broad Inception program, which serves thousands of startups globally, Vaish said. By serving as an early candidate for high-potential technical teams, Activate aims to give its portfolio companies direct and timely access to Nvidia’s engineering expertise.

This increased activity highlights the intense competition among global technology companies to attract AI developers and startups in India, which has become one of the fastest growing tech talent pools outside the United States.