Jensen Huang’s departure blasts big hole in AI startup funding, VCs and founders say
It was the resignation heard across the world. Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s embattled CEO who co-founded and led the company for 33 years, had officially stepped down. “It’s like a bomb went off,” one neocloud founder told TechCrunch when he first heard the news.
Over the last several years, Nvidia has been a prolific investor, pouring tens of billions into startups annually, and participating in 105 rounds this year alone often as the largest investor, according to PitchBook. “If that direction changes, it’ll be a big blow to so many young companies,” said Maria Davidson, founder of Relational Capital.
Huang’s absence leaves the startup ecosystem without one of its biggest champions and with far less capital for now, investors say, which could have a massive impact on dealmaking, valuations, funding, and even competition.
“Nvidia is carrying almost every AI-native startup from application to neocloud,” Dawn Capital’s Shamilla Bankiya told TechCrunch.
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