Nvidia deepens early-stage push into India’s AI startup ecosystem

Nvidia is stepping up efforts to court docket India’s synthetic intelligence startups earlier of their lifecycle, unveiling a string of partnerships this week aimed toward reaching founders even earlier than their firms are formally established. The push is meant to assist the AI chipmaker domesticate relationships with future clients in one of many world’s fastest-growing developer markets.

The newest transfer comes by a partnership with early-stage enterprise agency Activate, which plans to again about 25 to 30 AI startups from its $75 million debut fund whereas giving portfolio firms preferential entry to Nvidia’s technical experience. The collaboration follows different India-focused efforts unveiled this week, together with work with nonprofit AI Grants India to assist early-stage founders and new ties with enterprise corporations centered on the South Asian nation.

The flurry of exercise comes as India hosts its AI Affect Summit in New Delhi, drawing prime know-how firms together with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Nvidia Chief Government Jensen Huang was slated to attend however skipped the occasion attributable to what the corporate referred to as unexpected circumstances. A senior delegation led by government vp Jay Puri attended in his place, assembly AI researchers, startups, builders, and companions on the bottom.

India has emerged as one of many fastest-growing swimming pools of AI builders and startups, making it an more and more vital marketplace for Nvidia because it seems to develop adoption of chips and computing software program. By working extra carefully with founders on the earliest phases, the corporate is positioning itself to seize long-term demand as new AI-native firms scale.

Aakrit Vaish, founding father of Activate, mentioned Nvidia’s engagement with startups in India has traditionally been comparatively light-touch in contrast with the U.S., however the chipmaker is now trying to work with founders a lot earlier of their journey. Activate goals to leverage that shift by connecting portfolio startups immediately with Nvidia consultants.

The VC agency, which Vaish describes as centered on “inception investing,” meets technical groups months earlier than firm formation and works carefully with them as they develop. Its backers embrace enterprise capitalist Vinod Khosla, Perplexity co-founder Aravind Srinivas, Peak XV managing director Shailendra Singh, and Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, underlining the distinguished community Activate is assembling round its early-stage technique.

For Nvidia, the logic behind partnering with an early-stage enterprise agency is simple: the sooner it builds relationships with promising AI startups, the extra possible these firms are to depend on its computing infrastructure as they scale. Vaish instructed TechCrunch that rising startups sometimes devour growing quantities of AI compute over time, making early technical engagement worthwhile for the chipmaker as a means of producing future enterprise.

Nvidia already has a large presence within the nation by its Inception program, which helps greater than 4,000 startups in India. This week, the chipmaker additionally expanded its local ecosystem ties, together with partnerships with enterprise corporations equivalent to Accel, Peak XV, Z47, Elevation Capital, and Nexus Enterprise Companions to establish and fund AI startups. It individually teamed up with AI Grants India, co-founded by Vaibhav Domkundwar and Bhasker (Bosky) Kode, to assist greater than 10,000 early-stage founders over the subsequent 12 months.

The corporate has additionally been broadening its startup outreach in India over time. In November 2025, Nvidia joined the India Deep Tech Alliance, a consortium of U.S. and Indian traders together with Accel, Blume Ventures, Premji Make investments, and Celesta Capital, to offer strategic and technical steering to rising startups within the nation.

Vaish mentioned Activate’s partnership with Nvidia is designed to offer a extra curated layer on prime of the corporate’s broad-based Inception program, which serves hundreds of startups globally. By serving as an early filter for high-potential technical groups, Activate goals to present its portfolio firms extra direct, well timed entry to Nvidia’s engineering experience.

The stepped-up exercise underscores intensifying competitors amongst world know-how corporations to court docket AI builders and startups in India, which has turn out to be one of many fastest-growing swimming pools of technical expertise outdoors the U.S.