NVIDIA Offers Startups a $5M Helping Hand

From DailyTech: New companies looking to get started in the technology industry today are finding that venture capital (VC) funds are harder to come by than they were only six months ago thanks to the worsening economy. That means that some new startups that need VC to launch won't be able to get started and some companies operating on VC funds will be forced out of business.

Startups looking to design and build applications that run on the GPU may find it a bit easier to get the VC funds needed to operate with a program that NVIDIA has announced called the GPU Ventures Program. The program is looking to provide new startups with up to $5 million in VC to develop applications and technology that take advantage of the GPU.

NVIDIA says that investments of between $500,000 and $5 million are available for new companies that are developing GPU technology for the consumer and scientific market. According to NVIDIA's Jeff Herbst, the GPU maker has been making this sort of investment in companies working with technology for GPUs for years.

Herbst told eWeek, "We have been making investments in this space, and we deiced that these companies need our help more than ever. VC [venture capital] funding is still there, but it’s not as liquid as it was six to 12 months ago. The companies themselves are trying operate on a leaner and meaner basis, so we think we can be really helpful being a distribution channel and give them marketing support and visibility."

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