Nvidia-backed Nscale raises $2BN, appoints Sheryl Sandberg, Nick Clegg to board

Nscale, the Nvidia-backed AI infrastructure startup, has raised $2bn in a Series C funding round, valuing it at $14.6bn, and appointed Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg to its board.  

The round, which Nscale says is the largest Series C ever in Europe, was led by existing investor Aker ASA, the Norwegian investment firm, and VC firm 8090 Industries.

Astra Capital, Citadel, Dell, Jane Street, Lenovo, Linden Advisors, Nokia, Nvidia and Point72 also participated in the round.

The latest funding round follows the London-headquartered startup securing a $1.4bn loan to fund the purchase of GPUs earlier this year, and months after it secured a $1.1bn Series B.  

Nscale, which pitches itself as a "hyperscaler engineered for AI", is a key local AI infrastructure partner for OpenAI, Microsoft and Nvidia, which have announced significant investments into the UK AI ecosystem. The startup develops data centres and provides cloud services.

The startup is providing AI infrastructure for OpenAI’s AI data centre in Norway, called Stargate Norway, and its UK equivalent, Stargate UK.

Nscale, which only emerged from stealth in 2024, said it will use the funds to speed up the buildout of its AI infrastructure, including its data centre offering, and expanding in overseas markets.

Nscale has also appointed former Meta leaders Sandberg and Clegg, the former UK deputy prime minister, and Susan Decker, a former president of Yahoo, as directors to its board.

Josh Payne, CEO and founder of Nscale, said: “This is the fourth industrial revolution; the world is changing at a rapid pace. Over the next 5 years, artificial intelligence will be integrated into every industry, every product, and every job.

"Accelerating drug discovery, extending human life, autonomizing travel and robotics, lifting productivity, and driving massive growth.

"This is leading to the largest infrastructure buildout in human history. Nscale is leading this buildout. We are building this foundation that the market sits on, the engine of superintelligence.”