Nscale, a UK-based AI infrastructure company backed by Nvidia, recently raised $1.1 billion in a Series B funding round led by the Norwegian investment firm Aker ASA. Marking the largest Series B funding round ever recorded in Europe, it will be used to rapidly expand Nscale’s AI data centers across Europe, including major projects in the UK and Norway.
Nscale, the famous hyperscaler engineered for AI, specializes in building data centers optimized for AI workload using Nvidia GPUs and Kubernetes, providing secure, energy-efficient infrastructure to Big Techs like OpenAI and Microsoft.
This massive infusion of capital is set to accelerate and establish Nscale as a cornerstone in the global AI infrastructure landscape and a critical decision-maker in sovereign AI initiatives.
The funding round was led by Norwegian industrial investment firm Aker ASA, with continued support from existing shareholders, Sandton Capital, and participation from Nvidia, Blue Owl, Dell, Fidelity Management & Research Company, G Squared, Nokia, Point72 and T.Capital.
The financial backing from the aforementioned companies will provide the means for Nscale to scale its engineering and operations teams, propel its pioneering AI cloud platform, and support everything from AI training to fine-tuning and inference at scale. It also signals confidence in Nscale’s capabilities and the strategic role the company currently plays in popularizing AI data centers.
Aker ASA’s CEO, Øyvind Eriksen, attested to Nscale’s scalable and sovereign AI infrastructure. “Nscale’s full-stack, GPU-first model gives it a real edge in execution,” Eriksen said in a statement. “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.”
Nscale’s approach centers on building integrated “AI factory” facilities that will combine cutting-edge GPU compute, optical networking, energy-efficient storage, and managed AI services. Two of Nscale’s flagship projects exemplify this vision: Stargate Norway and Stargate UK.
In July, Nscale partnered up with OpenAI to build Stargate Norway, a major AI data center in Norway. The British AI infrastructure company will design the facility to use up to 520 megawatts (MW), with the aim to deploy around 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by 2026, using renewable energy sources.
This partnership is also complemented by Stargate UK, an AI infrastructure partnership between OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Nscale that aims to create the UK’s largest AI supercomputer. This partnership happened under the broader context of the Tech Partnership Pact, signed by the UK and US government as an effort of the former country’s national AI Opportunities Action Plan.
These infrastructure investments are in tandem with the skyrocketing demand for high-performance GPU compute required for advanced AI workloads.
According to Nscale CEO Josh Payne, Nscale is engineering a vertically integrated AI ecosystem to empower innovators and industries worldwide to achieve breakthroughs that once seemed out of reach.
“We are building the AI-native Infrastructure platform of tomorrow,” Payne said in a press release. “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.”
In what reads as a promise, Payne adds that, “Europe needs a Hyperscaler, and Nscale is rising to the challenge” to build “a vertically integrated, AI-engineered foundation designed to power the next generation of technological change, enabling industries and innovators across the globe to achieve what today feels impossible.”
Nscale, having roots in a cryptocurrency mining business and pivoting to building AI infrastructure, has now secured multiple partnerships with leading tech giants like Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI, to build large-scale AI computing power across Europe, North America, and the Middle East.
