Nscale Secures US$1.1bn Series B to Build AI Infrastructure

The London-based AI infrastructure company secured backing from lead investor Aker ASA, alongside existing shareholders including Sandton Capital and new participants Blue Owl Managed Funds, Dell, Fidelity Management & Research Company, G Squared, Nokia, NVIDIA, Point72 and T.Capital.

The oversubscribed funding round will finance Nscale’s expansion across three continents, accelerating the deployment of AI infrastructure projects including Stargate UK and Stargate Norway. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as exclusive placement agent for the capital raise.

Founded as an AI-native infrastructure platform, Nscale operates vertically integrated compute, networking, storage, managed software and AI services through company-owned and colocated data centres. The platform addresses enterprise demand for GPUs, positioning data centres in locations with access to low-cost renewable energy sources.

Nscale targets global AI factory deployment

The new capital will fund the rollout of Nscale’s AI factory data centres across multiple regions. “We are building the AI-native Infrastructure platform of tomorrow,” says Josh Payne, CEO of Nscale. “AI is reshaping industries, economies and national strategies – but it cannot happen without the physical backbone: the data centres, the GPUs and the software to orchestrate them.”

The funding will support expansion of engineering and operations teams while strengthening service delivery for enterprise and government customers worldwide. Nscale’s leadership team brings experience from building over 50 data centres, developing supercomputing platforms and scaling multi-billion-dollar infrastructure businesses.

Nscale's Glomfjord site. Credit: Nscale

“We are creating one of the largest global platforms of its kind – purpose-built to meet surging demand and unlock breakthroughs at unprecedented scale,” Josh adds. “This allows Nscale to provide our customers access to scarce, and highly sought after, compute capacity and rapidly accelerate the build-out of secure, compliant and energy-efficient AI infrastructure.”

Microsoft and OpenAI partnerships drive UK expansion

Recent partnerships have established Nscale’s presence in the UK AI infrastructure sector. The company recently announced plans with Microsoft to develop the UK's AI supercomputer on Nscale’s AI Campus in Loughton, while a separate collaboration with OpenAI and Nvidia established Stargate UK: an infrastructure platform deploying OpenAI's technology in the UK with focus on sovereign workloads.

UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan

“The success of UK-founded companies like Nscale shows how our country can be at the cutting edge of AI,” comments UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan. “By attracting global expertise and investment, it is building the essential infrastructure for the UK to compete internationally, drive growth, and create jobs across the country.”

Nscale is developing products across the AI stack, including fine-tuning services, inference APIs, AI Studio, orchestration tools and private cloud enhancements.

Aker ASA joint venture targets Norwegian market

In July, Nscale launched Stargate Norway through a partnership with Aker ASA and OpenAI, targeting delivery of 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by the end of 2026. The Nscale-Aker joint venture subsequently secured a multi-billion-dollar agreement with Microsoft to deliver AI infrastructure in Narvik, Norway.

Øyvind Eriksen, President & CEO of Aker ASA, says: “AI is reshaping the global economy and redefining the value of renewable energy. With Nscale, we’re backing infrastructure that's sovereign, scalable and purpose-built to accelerate this transformation. Nscale’s full-stack, GPU-first model gives it a real edge in execution.”

Øyvind Eriksen, President & CEO of Aker ASA

Øyvind continues: “The scale and quality of this Series B round are a testament to Nscale’s vision and momentum – and to the strength of our collaboration. Through both our Series B investment and joint venture, we’re making a significant, long-term commitment to building industrial relevance in the age of AI.”

Technology partnerships expand infrastructure capabilities

Nokia’s participation in the funding round includes a partnership combining the Finnish company’s IP and optical networking expertise with Nscale’s infrastructure platform.

“Demand for the build-out of secure, scalable AI infrastructure in Europe and across the world continues to accelerate,” explains Justin Hotard, President and CEO of Nokia. “Nokia is participating in Nscale's investment round and announcing a partnership with Nscale to combine our expertise in IP and optical networking with their leading infrastructure platform, enabling the innovation needed for the future of AI infrastructure.”

Justin Hotard, President and CEO of Nokia

Dell Technologies has expanded its relationship with Nscale, providing AI infrastructure to support sovereign AI initiatives across Europe. Adrian McDonald, President, EMEA at Dell Technologies, says: “The future of AI hinges on empowering every nation to innovate securely, independently and on its own terms. We help transform sovereign ambition into global impact by delivering the foundational infrastructure and services needed to realise this vision. Through Dell’s strategic investment and the power of our AI solutions, Nscale is building tailored platforms that drive meaningful progress for citizens and industries worldwide.”

Adrian McDonald, President, EMEA at Dell Technologies

“Over just a few months, Nscale has moved with focus and velocity – turning ambitious plans into production capacity and becoming meaningfully relevant, fast,” adds Larry Aschebrook, Founder & Managing Partner at G Squared. “The team is building massive-scale, sovereign infrastructure that enterprises and nations can actually consume – reliable, efficient, and close to their data.

“We’re excited to support Josh and the Nscale team as they scale with discipline, equip builders with infrastructure and establish a strategic foundation for national AI leadership.”

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