Direct answer:
Nvidia and growth fund TCV have taken stakes in Higgsfield, the AI video startup founded by a former Snap executive. The deal — announced on 23 October 2026 during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to Kazakhstan — extends a $400 million Series B that valued the company at $5.4 billion in August. It is another signal that AI-generated video has moved from novelty to core marketing infrastructure.
What happened
Higgsfield announced on 23 October that its Series B round has been extended with new investment from TCV — the growth-stage fund that previously backed Netflix, Spotify, Facebook, ByteDance and Electronic Arts — and from Nvidia. Neither the amount raised nor the new valuation was disclosed.
The numbers behind the company explain the interest. Higgsfield, founded in 2023 by Alex Mashrabov, Yerzat Dulat and Mahi De Silva, says its registered user base has passed 40 million people across more than 200 countries. Bloomberg reported that its annualised revenue run rate surpassed $1 billion in September, up from around $200 million in January. The August Series B, led by DST Global with Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Tribe Capital, Intel Capital and others taking part, valued the company at $5.4 billion — more than four times the $1.3 billion it was worth in January.
The announcement was deliberately timed with Jensen Huang’s first visit to Kazakhstan for the country’s national AI Month in Astana. Most of Higgsfield’s engineering team is based there, and during a fireside chat with Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and AI minister Zhaslan Madiyev, Huang explained the bet: “The first thing and the last thing is you invest in people, not companies.” He also praised the youth of the team, whose average age Madiyev put at 25.
Notably, Higgsfield is not just a single-model video generator. Per Bloomberg, its platform gives creators access to around 35 AI video models from other providers alongside its own engine, letting users mix models for different parts of a production — storyboarding, character creation, audio, finished video. That multi-model approach is part of what TCV says convinced it: “a radically faster, professional-grade and AI-native mechanism for creators, brand marketers and agencies alike to turn ideas into images and video.”
The broader context: AI video is capital-hungry and investors keep writing cheques. China’s Kling AI raised $2.8 billion this summer at about a $15 billion valuation, and US rival Runway AI raised $315 million at a $5.3 billion valuation in February — also with Nvidia participating.
What it means for UK small businesses
If you pay for product videos, social clips, or ad creative, this news matters in a practical way:
- AI video production costs are still falling. Platforms competing this hard — Higgsfield with 40 million users, Kling raising billions, Runway backed by Nvidia — means better tools and sharper pricing for the rest of us. A one-person marketing operation can now produce a week’s worth of social video without a shoot day.
- A multi-model platform reduces lock-in. Higgsfield’s approach of letting you switch between video models inside one workspace is worth trying before committing to a single provider. Test the same prompt across models and keep the winner.
- The compute angle affects pricing. Video generation is, as Huang’s own investment implies, GPU-intensive. Expect pricing to track compute costs — subscriptions today can change tomorrow, so don’t build a whole content pipeline on a fixed assumption without checking terms.
This continues a pattern we’ve covered before — Canva’s first image generation model and the Kling 4.0 API launch show the same direction: AI media creation is consolidating into professional tools that agencies and in-house teams can actually rely on.
Honest limits / what to watch
- The extension size is undisclosed. Without a figure, we can’t tell whether this is a token strategic cheque from Nvidia or a substantial top-up. Treat the headline as direction-of-travel, not a scale signal.
- $1 billion run rate is company-stated. Bloomberg reported the figure, but it comes from Higgsfield’s own performance numbers, not audited accounts. The trajectory is clearly strong; the exact figure should be read with that caveat.
- Output quality still varies. AI video has improved enormously, but generation-to-generation consistency — faces, branding, product details — remains the weakest link for commercial use. Budget time for regeneration and human review.
- Disclosure rules apply. If you use AI-generated video in UK advertising or social content, check ASA guidance and each platform’s labelling requirements. Undisclosed synthetic people in ads is exactly the kind of thing regulators are watching.
FAQs
Who is Higgsfield?
Higgsfield is an AI video and image creation platform founded in 2023 by former Snap executive Alex Mashrabov, AI engineer Yerzat Dulat and Mahi De Silva. It is headquartered in San Francisco with most of its engineering team in Kazakhstan, has over 40 million registered users across more than 200 countries, and describes itself as a specialist service for brands and creators generating media at scale.
How much did Nvidia and TCV invest in Higgsfield?
The size of the investment and the new valuation were not disclosed. The funding is an extension of Higgsfield’s August 2026 Series B, which raised $400 million at a $5.4 billion valuation led by DST Global. The new money will fund global infrastructure and hiring.
Why is Nvidia’s Jensen Huang backing an AI video startup?
Speaking at Kazakhstan’s national AI Month event in Astana, where Higgsfield keeps most of its engineering team, Huang said “you invest in people, not companies,” praising the founders’ vision and young engineering talent. Nvidia has powered every generation of Higgsfield’s platform, and generative video is extremely compute-hungry — a natural fit for Nvidia’s ecosystem.
Can UK small businesses use Higgsfield?
Yes — the platform is available globally and serves brands, agencies and creators. It works as a multi-model platform, giving users access to around 35 AI video models alongside Higgsfield’s own engine. Check current pricing on the company’s site, and be aware the new funding may shift pricing or plans as the company scales infrastructure.
What are the risks of relying on AI video for marketing?
Platform lock-in, inconsistent output quality between generations, rights questions around AI-generated people, and compliance: UK advertising rules and platform policies still require you to label AI-generated content where it could mislead. Treat AI video as a fast first draft for product and social content, not a finished broadcast-quality asset.
