Nvidia is reportedly preparing to invest up to US$1 billion in AI startup Poolside, potentially increasing the company's valuation to as high as US$12 billion. Poolside is currently in the midst of a US$2 billion funding round, with more than half of that amount already secured, according to Bloomberg sources familiar with the matter.
Existing investors have committed approximately US$700 million, with hedge fund Magnetar also negotiating to join the financing round. If successful, Nvidia's stake could start at US$500 million and grow to US$1 billion. Part of the new capital will be allocated to purchasing Nvidia's GB300 chips, which are critical to the startup's technology infrastructure.
Poolside has recently partnered with cloud provider CoreWeave to develop a large-scale data center project codenamed Horizon, located in West Texas. The facility is expected to have a power draw of around 2 GW, comparable to the electricity consumption of 1.5 million households. This project underscores Poolside's ambitions to scale its AI capabilities significantly.
This is not Nvidia's initial investment in Poolside. Earlier reports from TechCrunch indicated that Poolside raised US$500 million in a Series B round in October 2024, led by Bain Capital Ventures and including Nvidia and eBay as participants. That round brought Poolside's total funding to about US$626 million and valued the company at roughly US$3 billion.
Founded in 2023 by former GitHub CTO Jason Warner and entrepreneur Eiso Kant, Poolside operates offices in the US and Paris. The company specializes in AI-driven code automation and focuses heavily on applications serving government and defense sectors. Its long-term goal is to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) that surpasses human intellectual capabilities.
Warner played a key role in developing GitHub's AI-assisted coding tool Copilot, while Kant has founded several engineering data companies. The two have a nearly six-year history of collaboration, which led to the creation of Poolside's AI-centered programming suite.
According to PitchBook, Nvidia had invested in 59 AI startups by mid-October 2025, exceeding the total number of investments it made in 2024. Noteworthy companies in its portfolio include AI search engine Perplexity AI and humanoid robotics firm Figure AI, demonstrating Nvidia's broadening footprint in artificial intelligence technologies.
Nvidia's increased commitment to Poolside aligns with its strategy to deepen its presence in the AI sector, leveraging its hardware and expertise to support startups advancing cutting-edge AI innovations. The company's involvement in Poolside's growth and infrastructure development adds to a series of significant investments aimed at accelerating AI research and deployment across multiple industries.
Article edited by Jack Wu
