European AI Infrastructure Firm Nscale Raises Record $2B
UK-based Nscale has secured a $2 billion Series C, the largest funding round of its kind in European history, valuing the AI infrastructure company at $14.6 billion. The round brings heavyweights like Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg to its board as the company plans a major global expansion to meet insatiable demand for AI computing capacity.
The latest funding round was led by Norwegian industrial group Aker ASA and 8090 Industries, with significant participation from tech giants like Nvidia, Dell, and Lenovo. This influx of capital is earmarked for an aggressive global build-out of Nscale's vertically integrated AI infrastructure, which includes everything from GPU compute and networking to data services and orchestration software across Europe, North America, and Asia. The addition of Sheryl Sandberg, former Meta COO, and Nick Clegg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and President of Global Affairs at Meta, to the board brings significant tech and policy expertise. They are joined by Susan Decker, former President of Yahoo, further strengthening the board's global leadership credentials in technology, governance, and policy as AI infrastructure faces increasing scrutiny. Founded in 2024 as a spinoff from Australian Bitcoin mining infrastructure provider Arkon Energy, Nscale has seen a meteoric rise. The company secured a landmark $1.1 billion Series B round in September 2025 and has a significant partnership with Microsoft, reportedly worth up to $14 billion, to construct a large AI data center in Texas. Nscale is developing a substantial pipeline of data center projects totaling over 1.3GW of capacity. These include a 90MW facility in Loughton, Essex, set to be the UK's largest AI data center, and the "Stargate Norway" project in partnership with OpenAI, which aims to deliver 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by the end of 2026. The company also has operations and projects in Portugal, Iceland, and the United States. The demand for AI infrastructure is surging, with the global market projected to grow from over $58 billion in 2025 to nearly $500 billion by 2034. This explosive growth is driven by the increasing adoption of AI across all industries, creating what Nscale's CEO Josh Payne calls "the largest infrastructure buildout in human history." This compute power arms race is leading to a massive increase in energy consumption, with data centers expected to account for a significant portion of global electricity demand. Nscale aims to address this by focusing on energy-efficient data centers powered by renewable energy, such as the hydroelectric-powered facilities in Norway and a site in Portugal that will use seawater for cooling.
