Nvidia is stepping up its efforts to woo Indian artificial intelligence startups earlier in their lifecycle, unveiling a series of partnerships this week aimed at reaching founders before their companies are even officially established. The move aims to help the AI chipmaker cultivate relationships with future customers in one of the world’s fastest-growing development markets.
Latest initiative results from partnership with early-stage venture capital firm Enablewhich plans to back around 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 a collaboration with nonprofit AI Grants India to support early-stage founders and new ties with venture capital firms focused on the South Asian nation.
This renewed activity comes as India welcomes its AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, attracting leading technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was scheduled to attend but skipped the event due to what the company called unforeseen circumstances. A high-level delegation led by Executive Vice President Jay Puri was present in his place, meeting with AI researchers, startups, developers and partners on the ground.
India has become one of the fastest-growing pools of AI developers and startups, making it an increasingly important market for Nvidia as it seeks to expand adoption of computer chips and software. By working more closely with founders in the early stages, the company positions itself to capture long-term demand as new AI-native companies grow.
Aakrit Vaish, founder of Activate, said Nvidia’s engagement with startups in India has always been relatively light compared to that in the United States, but the chipmaker is now looking to work with founders much earlier in their journey. Activate aims to capitalize on this shift by directly connecting portfolio startups with Nvidia experts.
The venture capital firm, which Vaish describes as “early investment” focused, meets with 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 capital firm is simple: the sooner it builds relationships with promising AI startups, the more likely those companies are to rely on its IT infrastructure as they scale. Vaish told TechCrunch that growing startups typically consume increasing amounts of AI compute over time, making early technical engagement valuable to the chipmaker as a way to generate future business.
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Nvidia already has a significant presence in the country thanks to its Startup programwhich supports more than 4,000 startups in India. This week, the chipmaker also expanded its links with the local ecosystemincluding partnerships with venture capital firms such as Accel, Peak XV, Z47, Elevation Capital and Nexus Venture Partners to identify and fund AI startups. It has separately partnered with AI Grants India, co-founded by Vaibhav Domkundwar and Bhasker (Bosky) Kode, to support over 10,000 early-stage founders over the next 12 months.
The company has also expanded its presence in India over time. In November 2025, Nvidia joined the India Deep Tech Alliancea consortium of US and Indian investors including Accel, Blume Ventures, Premji Invest and Celesta Capital, to provide strategic and technical advice to emerging startups in the country.
Vaish said Activate’s partnership with Nvidia is designed to provide a more curated layer on top of the company’s extensive Inception program, which serves thousands of startups worldwide. By serving as an early filter for high-potential technical teams, Activate aims to give its portfolio companies more direct and faster access to Nvidia’s engineering expertise.
The increased activity underscores intensifying competition among global technology companies to woo AI developers and startups in India, which has become one of the fastest-growing technical talent pools outside the United States.
Jagmeet covers startups, technology policy updates and all other major technology developments in India for TechCrunch. He previously worked as a senior correspondent at NDTV.
You can contact or check Jagmeet’s outreach by sending an email mail@journalistjagmeet.com.
