Nvidia’s $5.5 Billion European Startup Spree in 2025—Up from Zero in 2020 and 2021
Nvidia just dropped a $5.5 billion bomb on Europe's tech scene.
From Zero to Hero
Remember 2020 and 2021? Nvidia's European startup investment ledger was a perfect, pristine zero. Fast forward to 2025, and the chip giant has gone on a historic shopping spree, deploying a staggering $5.5 billion across the continent's most promising ventures. It's not a gradual ramp-up—it's a vertical takeoff.
The New Frontier
This isn't just about writing checks. It's a strategic land grab in AI infrastructure, quantum computing, and next-gen semiconductor design. Nvidia is planting its flag deep in European soil, betting that the next wave of foundational tech won't just come from Silicon Valley. They're funding the architects of the future, from lab to fab.
Follow the Money
The move signals a seismic shift in global capital flows. While traditional finance was busy rearranging deck chairs, a tech titan quietly built a $5.5 billion bridgehead into Europe's innovation economy. It's a masterclass in capital allocation that makes most VC funds look like they're playing with pocket change. A cynical observer might note it's easier to spend billions when your market cap makes small countries look financially insignificant.
One thing's clear: the center of gravity for high-stakes tech investment is moving. And Nvidia just placed a $5.5 billion bet on where it lands next.
Nvidia pumped money into AI labs, cloud startups, and quantum projects
The biggest deal of the year was with Mistral, a French AI firm building models to go head-to-head with OpenAI and Google. Nvidia invested in two rounds for the startup, first in 2024 and then in September 2025, joining a €1.7 billion Series C that valued Mistral at €11.7 billion or about $13.6 billion.
UK-based Nscale came next. The company builds AI cloud infrastructure and data centers. Jensen Huang announced in September that Nvidia was committing £500 million.
Two funding rounds followed ($1.1 billion in September and $433 million in October) with Nvidia in both.
Quantinuum, a quantum computing startup, landed a $600 million round in September. The deal gave it a $10 billion valuation, and the cash will help it launch its next-gen system called Helios.
Then there’s Black Forest Labs, a German company building visual AI models. Nvidia joined a16z, General Catalyst, and Salesforce Ventures in a $300 million December raise that gave the company a $3.25 billion valuation.
Lovable, which makes “vibe coding” software, raised $330 million in December with help from Nvidia, Alphabet’s venture unit, and Menlo Ventures. The company was valued at $6.6 billion.
More startups across biotech, automation, and fintech got Nvidia’s money too
German startup N8n, which automates business workflows, closed a $180 million Series C in October at a $2.5 billion valuation. Nvidia joined Accel, Meritech, and Redpoint on that one.
UK-based CuspAI builds an AI platform to help find new materials. It raised $100 million in September with Nvidia as one of the investors.
In December, NVentures took part in PolyAI’s $86 million Series D. The British company makes voice assistants for call centers and customer service. NVentures also joined its $50 million Series C in May 2024.
Charm Therapeutics, a biotech firm working out of the UK, pulled in $80 million in September. Nvidia had already invested $20 million back in 2023 and came back for more.
France’s Scintil Photonics secured €50 million in September. The company designs photonic integrated circuits to help with data Flow inside AI data centers. The round also featured Bosch Ventures, Bpifrance, and Innovacom.
Another UK startup, PhysicsX, raised $20 million in November. Nvidia joined the deal and also grabbed rights to invest $80 million more in the next round. The company is working on tools that help engineers simulate physics when designing physical systems.
Nvidia also made undisclosed investments in Cassava Technologies and Revolut. Cassava, based in the UK but focused on internet and data center infrastructure in Africa, got funding in October. Revolut, the UK-based fintech giant, confirmed in November that Nvidia bought shares at a $75 billion valuation.
Meanwhile, investors were piling into European equities like crazy. BlackRock’s Ursula Marchioni said European-focused exchange-traded funds pulled in $92 billion in 2025. That’s almost as much as they took in from 2014 to 2024 combined. She called it a “decade in a year.”
Marchioni said the flood was driven by the urge to stay exposed to AI but still diversify away from the U.S. She said, “We’ve seen last year the great repatriation trade… there is this desire to diversify and remain exposed to the AI trade and to the US, but with some FORM of protection.”
Government spending is rising across Europe, especially from Germany, and analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence say Stoxx 600 profits might climb 10% this year, after flatlining in 2025. European stocks have also been ripping.
In dollar terms, they’re up 37% since last January, which is double what the S&P 500 delivered. It’s not just tech. Banks, miners, and defense stocks have all jumped too. Valuations are still cheaper than in the U.S., with a 30% discount on the Stoxx 600 compared to U.S. equities.
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