After facing regulatory hurdles, NVIDIA has now received approval from the U.S. regulator to acquire the Israeli company Run:ai. The deal, initially announced in April but delayed since, is finally moving forward. While the exact amount remains undisclosed, estimates suggest it to be around $700 million.
The deal underwent scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division and the European Union's competition authority. Recently, the U.S. regulator gave its approval, following earlier approval by the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, earlier this month.
Even before the acquisition, Run:ai had a partnership with NVIDIA, developing an operating system for the new AI processors, based on advanced virtualization technologies. This technology, developed by Run:ai, allows clients to maximize output from the chips, a particularly sought-after service given the growing demand for chips that now surpasses supply.
Run:ai was founded in 2018 by Omri Geller, the company’s CEO, who previously worked in a technological unit of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Dr. Ronen Dar, a former researcher at Bell Labs and an algorithm engineer at Anobit, which was sold to Apple.
Since its inception, the company has raised $118 million. Its largest investor is S Capital, a fund led by Aya Peterburg and Haim Sadger, which invested in Run:ai from its early stages. Other early-stage investors include the TLV Partners fund, with later-stage investments from Tiger Global and Insight Partners.
NVIDIA, a tech giant producing AI chips, became the world's most valuable company in November, surpassing Apple following a 890% increase in value over two years, reaching a market cap of $3.36 trillion. NVIDIA also joined the Dow Jones Index in November, replacing Intel. The index includes the stocks of 30 selected large-cap companies.
Aya Peterburg, a partner at S Capital, stated: "Israel has not only embraced the AI revolution but is uniquely positioned to leverage the opportunities it brings, particularly in technological infrastructure. AI is still in its early stages of development.
"NVIDIA, founded in 1993, is a clear example—its phenomenal success only came decades later with the breakthrough of advanced graphical processing applications for AI. Similarly, with Run:ai, we observed a comparable pattern: when we invested in the company, the market was unclear and directions were uncertain, but we identified an extraordinary founding team that recognized opportunities in infrastructure—a critical area that forms the foundation of the AI revolution.
"Now, as the AI ecosystem is still taking shape, this is a pivotal period allowing Israeli entrepreneurs to leverage their capabilities and stand out on the global stage. The current opportunities lie not only in creating applications but also in laying the groundwork for a new generation of AI technologies."