NVIDIA's AI startup program, Inception,
8,500 member firms, holding $60 billion in accumulated funds
Recorded a growth rate of over 17% in the first half of 2021 alone.


NVIDIA announced on the 4th that the number of companies enrolled in its AI startup accelerator program, ' Inception ,' has surpassed 8,500. This figure represents approximately two-thirds of all AI startups worldwide, according to estimates by the business information provider Pitchbook.

Inception is one of the world's largest AI startup ecosystems, boasting over $60 billion in accumulated funding and involving startups from more than 90 countries. All benefits are provided free of charge, and there are no fees. Unlike other programs, there is no requirement to forfeit equity. Since its launch in 2016, Inception has grown more than tenfold. Growing rapidly every year, membership increased by 26% in 2020, and the platform recorded a growth rate of over 17% in the first half of 2021 alone.

The United States accounts for 27% of Inception AI startups and has the largest number of member companies worldwide, having secured over $27 billion in cumulative funding. 42% of startups in the United States are headquartered in California.

This means that more than one in ten AI startups is based in California, and 29% are located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It also demonstrates that the region is receiving high interest in startup founders and venture capital financing.

Next, China followed the United States in terms of funding and membership. China holds 12% of NVIDIA Inception members. India ranked third with 7%, followed by the United Kingdom with 6%. AI startups headquartered in the U.S., China, India, and the United Kingdom account for more than half of all Inception startup members. This was followed by Germany, Russia, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Japan in terms of the number of members.

By industry, healthcare, IT services, intelligent video analytics, media and entertainment, and robotics accounted for the top five sectors. Healthcare AI startups were the most numerous at 16%, followed by the IT services sector at 15%. Intelligent video analytics AI startups accounted for 8%, while media and entertainment and robotics AI startups each accounted for 7%.

Last year, more than 3,000 AI startups joined Inception, with U.S. startups accounting for 27% of the total. China accounted for 12%, while India and the UK each accounted for 6%. Their distribution differed from the overall rankings. IT services ranked first at 17%, followed by healthcare at 16%, media and entertainment at 9%, intelligent video analytics at 8%, and robotics at 5%.

Looking at the detailed areas of the top two industry sectors among these, healthcare and IT services, computer vision accounted for the largest share at 27% in IT services, while predictive analytics ranked second at 9%. In healthcare, medical analysis accounted for 38% and medical imaging for 36%.

In particular, pharmaceuticals and AI biology are recording the fastest growth at 15%.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) startups have emerged as dominant players in the media and entertainment sectors. These startups appear to have joined NVIDIA Inception with a vision to build an ecosystem for the metaverse.