Nvidia Amplifies Engagement with India’s AI Startups
In a bid to secure its position in one of the world’s most rapidly growing developer markets, Nvidia, the renowned AI chipmaker, is escalating its initiatives to connect with India’s artificial intelligence startups. The company has unveiled several strategic partnerships aimed at connecting with potential clients even before their companies are formally established.
Nvidia’s latest collaboration is with Activate, an early-stage venture firm. Activate plans to back approximately 25 to 30 AI startups from its $75 million debut fund, while providing its portfolio companies with preferential access to Nvidia’s technical expertise.
Building Strong Relationships in a Fast-Growing Market
India has rapidly emerged as one of the fastest-growing hubs for AI developers and startups, making it a crucial market for Nvidia’s expansion strategy. By working closely with founders at the earliest stages of their journey, Nvidia is positioning itself to capture long-term demand as new AI-native companies scale.
Aakrit Vaish, the founder of Activate, stated that Nvidia’s engagement with Indian startups has historically been lighter compared to its U.S. counterparts. However, with the chipmaker now looking to work with founders at a much earlier stage, Activate aims to capitalize on this shift by linking its portfolio startups directly with Nvidia experts.
Activate’s Unique Approach to Investing
Activate, which Vaish describes as an “inception investing” firm, engages with technical teams months before company formation and works closely with them as they grow. Backed by prominent figures such as venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, Aravind Srinivas from Perplexity, Shailendra Singh from Peak XV, and Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Activate is creating a strong network around its early-stage strategy.
Nvidia’s Strategy: Early Engagement Equals Long-Term Success
The reasoning behind Nvidia’s partnership with an early-stage venture firm like Activate is simple: the earlier Nvidia can build relationships with promising AI startups, the more likely these companies will lean on its computing infrastructure as they expand. According to Vaish, growing startups typically consume increasing amounts of AI compute over time, making early technical engagement a valuable strategy for Nvidia to generate future business.
Nvidia’s Growing Presence in India
Nvidia already has a significant presence in India through its Inception program, which supports more than 4,000 startups in the country. This week, the company also expanded its local ecosystem ties by partnering with venture firms such as Accel, Peak XV, Z47, Elevation Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners to identify and fund AI startups. Additionally, it teamed up with AI Grants India, co-founded by Vaibhav Domkundwar and Bhasker (Bosky) Kode, to support more than 10,000 early-stage founders over the next 12 months.
Nvidia’s outreach to startups in India has been expanding over time. In November 2025, the company joined the India Deep Tech Alliance, a consortium of U.S. and Indian investors, to provide strategic and technical guidance to emerging startups in the country.
Activate and Nvidia: A Curated Approach to Support AI Startups
Activate’s partnership with Nvidia aims to provide a more curated layer on top of the broad-based Inception program. By serving as an early filter for high-potential technical teams, Activate aims to give its portfolio companies more direct, timely access to Nvidia’s engineering expertise.
This heightened activity underscores the escalating competition among global technology firms to engage AI developers and startups in India, which has become one of the fastest-growing pools of technical talent outside the U.S.
To read more about Nvidia’s early-stage push into India’s AI startup ecosystem, click here.
