Nvidia ramps up acquisitions in 2024 with Israeli startups driving growth
Nvidia ramps up acquisitions in 2024 with Israeli startups driving growth
After years of conservative deals, Run:ai and Deci acquisitions underscore Nvidia’s focus on AI innovation and its expanding footprint in Israel.
Nvidia’s acquisition spree in 2024 has signaled a bold shift in strategy for the AI and semiconductor giant. After averaging fewer than two acquisitions per year between 2021 and 2023, the company completed six deals last year. Two of the most significant acquisitions—of Israeli startups Run:ai and Deci—underscore Nvidia’s growing reliance on Israel’s vibrant AI ecosystem to fuel its growth. Together, these two deals totaled an estimated $1.1 billion, with the Run:ai deal valued at $800 million and Deci at $300 million.
In April, Nvidia announced the purchase of Run:ai, making it Nvidia’s largest acquisition in Israel since its $6.9 billion purchase of Mellanox in 2019. Run:ai, founded in 2018 by Omri Geller and Dr. Ronen Dar, developed an AI operating system that optimizes Nvidia’s GPUs, addressing a pressing industry need amid skyrocketing demand for AI chips. The deal, which was only officially completed last week after overcoming regulatory hurdles, also ensured Run:ai’s operational independence, allowing it to maintain partnerships across the AI industry while expanding its Israeli footprint.
Also last April, Nvidia confirmed its acquisition of Deci, an Israeli AI startup specializing in neural architecture search (NAS). Deci, founded in 2019 by Yonatan Geifman, Ran El-Yaniv, and Jonathan Elial, automates the design of deep learning models to enhance performance. Nvidia cited Deci’s expertise in foundational models and inference as critical to bolstering its AI capabilities.
These two acquisitions reflect Nvidia’s strategic commitment to Israel, where the company has more than 4,000 employees at its R&D center. Deci and Run:ai join a roster of Israeli companies Nvidia has acquired, including storage solutions provider Excelero in 2022.
The surge in acquisitions this year marks a significant departure from Nvidia’s more conservative M&A strategy in recent years. Between 2021 and 2023, the company completed just five acquisitions in total, focusing instead on organic growth and navigating regulatory hurdles.
According to the FT, Nvidia also invested $1 billion in 2024 across 50 funding rounds, significantly increasing its support for AI startups compared to $872 million spent in 2023. Many of these investments targeted "core AI" companies reliant on Nvidia's high-performing GPUs.
