As a $4.3 trillion company, Nvidia has the financial resources to invest in a lot of startups. Lately, it’s had the motivation to do so too.

So far this year, the chip designer and most highly valued U.S. public company has made at least 42 investments in private companies, either directly or through its NVentures venture arm, per Crunchbase data. That’s up slightly from the year-ago period, which was already unusually busy.

As illustrated below, Nvidia wasn’t always such a prolific startup investor. The chip giant began picking up the pace in 2023, and so far it hasn’t looked back.

A penchant for ‘hard tech’

Nvidia’s startup investments this year cover a diverse array of businesses. One thing they share in common, however, is a focus on “hard tech” — solving entrenched, complicated problems with advanced technologies and teams with deep expertise.

In other words, these aren’t mom-and-pop startups anyone could dream up at the kitchen table.

For proof, look at one of the largest rounds that Nvidia backed this year: An $863 million Series B for Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which hopes to be first in the world to commercialize fusion power.

Or consider Quantinuum, a quantum computing startup that landed $600 million last month in an NVentures-led round. And don’t leave out Mistral AI, the French GenAI startup that just closed the largest round to date for a European AI company.

The NVentures mission statement is to invest in companies that are “solving complex problems” and it’s not limited by sector. The portfolio today spans from robotics to biotech to AI video generation. Nvidia is also active in working with very nascent companies, often through its Nvidia Inception program for AI startups.

Typically, a nonlead role

Although Nvidia has sometimes served as lead investor, typically it does not. This held true in 2025, with the chip giant and its venture arm disclosing a lead role in only five rounds — or roughly 1 in 8 they backed.

Of those, several were rather large. The second-biggest after Quantinuum was a $300 million Series D for AI21 Labs, an Israeli enterprise AI startup. Nvidia also co-led a $135 million Series B for Skild AI, which develops AI software to power robots.

Investing with a broad brush

If we were to generalize Nvidia’s strategy based on its known funding rounds for the past few years, the driving interest appears to be to have a stake in companies likely to play a transformative role in the future of AI technology.

Nvidia has a stake in several of the most-valuable AI companies, including OpenAI, Databricks, xAI and ScaleAI. It also has a number of  power generation-related investments sprinkled in, indicating ongoing concern and interest in how we are going to feed all those power-hungry AI bots.

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Illustration: Dom Guzman

By Shazia Tabasum

Signed into law on July 4, the U.S.’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a reconciliation package intended to reshape business taxation — and there are opportunities for founders to achieve fresh momentum.

Several specific provisions deserve special attention: immediate domestic R&D expensing, a revamped Qualified Small Business Stock, or QSBS, framework with earlier exits, and reinstated bonus depreciation.

Here’s what’s new, as well as how startups can make the most of these developments.

Innovation gets immediate relief with R&D expensing

A longstanding issue with Section 174, where businesses had to amortize R&D costs over multiple years, is now history for startups. Effective starting in the 2025 tax year, U.S.-based R&D expenses are fully deductible as soon as they’re spent. That’s a win for tech-driven startups looking to reinvest aggressively in product development.

And even better, startups with less than $31 million in average annual gross receipts may elect to apply this change retroactively. This means 2022-2024 tax returns can be amended, which potentially unlocks refunds.

Actions for founders to take now include:

• Inventorying R&D expenditures by year to determine if amending earlier returns is worth it.
• Planning for accelerated deduction strategies — either by amending or applying expensing in 2025-2026.
• Preparing for IRS guidance around elections and technical filing details.

Early exits just got more attractive in the QSBS overhaul

The QSBS program just became friendlier to founders by:

• Raising the gross asset cap from $50 million to $75 million, expanding eligibility.
• Offering new tiered capital-gains exclusions: 50% exclusion for stock held at least three years, 75% for stock held at least four years, and the full 100% for stock held at least five years.
• Increasing the gains exclusion to $15 million per issuer (up from $10 million) or up to 10x your basis.

This is important, as founders and early employees will face less pressure to wait the full five years before cashing out. The move has already sparked interest (particularly in fast-moving sectors like AI) around earlier M&A opportunities and secondary transactions, as well as liquidity events.

Action steps for founders:

• Monitor your company’s gross asset level to stay within the $75 million threshold.
• Educate your employees, investors and potential acquirers about tiered QSBS benefits.
• Consider restructuring exit timelines to leverage partial exclusions.

Evaluate the implications of Simple Agreement for Future Equity, SAFE, options, and equity conversion timelines, noting the current rules lack clarity around SAFE-treated stock.

Bonus depreciation reinstated to ignite capital investment value

Here’s the great news for hardware-heavy, capital-intensive startups. With this change, 100% bonus depreciation is back and permanent for qualifying tangible property. It applies to property placed in service after Jan. 19, 2025, and includes everything from equipment and machinery to specific production property.

This shifts capital purchases from long-term depreciation schedules into immediate write-offs — freeing up critical cash flow to put back into the business.

Take action by:

• Accelerating the procurement of qualifying equipment slated for deployment.
• Considering lease vs. buy scenarios, as buying may carry greater upfront tax advantages.
• Consulting your tax adviser to coordinate capex planning with bonus depreciation timelines.

Putting the new law to work requires proactive planning and expert guidance. Start by auditing your R&D ledger, revisiting exit strategies and locking in accelerated tax breaks. But to truly stay on top of regulatory details, with IRS and tax guidance still emerging, engage help to keep an eye on deadlines, definitional clarity and depreciation rules. Also keep the broader landscape in mind.

This act marks a wave of entrepreneur-friendly tax reform, and timing is ideal for nimble startups to save big and reap benefits — but as always, legislation is only as valuable as your strategy. Make sure to pair new policy with smart planning and early alignment.

Speak with your adviser today and you’ll be well-positioned to turn these provisions into founder fuel.

 Shazia Tabasum is a senior income tax manager at Burkland, an agency providing outsourced CFOs, accountants, tax advisers and HR professionals for fast-growing startups. She has more than 15 years of experience in U.S. corporate income taxation, working with both the Big Four and U.S. CPA firms, is licensed as an enrolled agent, and has represented clients before the IRS. Tabasum holds a bachelor’s degree in management accounting and advanced financial accounting from Bangalore University in India.

Illustration: Dom Guzman