TLDR: Nscale, a UK-headquartered hyperscaler engineered for AI, has successfully raised $1.1 billion in Series B funding, marking the largest such round in UK and European history. Led by Norwegian investment firm Aker ASA and backed by industry giants like Nvidia, Dell Technologies, and Nokia, this capital infusion will accelerate Nscale’s global deployment of AI-focused data centers across Europe, North America, and the Middle East, leveraging low-cost renewable energy sources to address the surging demand for GPU compute capacity.
London, UK – September 25, 2025 – Nscale, a leading hyperscaler specializing in AI-native infrastructure, today announced the successful closure of a monumental $1.1 billion Series B funding round. This significant investment represents the largest Series B in both UK and European history, underscoring the critical demand for advanced AI infrastructure globally.
The funding round was spearheaded by Norwegian investment firm Aker ASA, with robust participation from a consortium of prominent investors. These include existing shareholders like Sandton Capital, alongside new strategic backers such as Blue Owl Managed Funds, Dell Technologies Inc., Fidelity Management & Research Company, G Squared, Nokia Corp., Nvidia Corp., Point72, and T.Capital. The oversubscribed round highlights strong investor confidence in Nscale’s vision and its pivotal role in the burgeoning AI landscape.
The substantial capital injection is earmarked to accelerate Nscale’s ambitious global expansion, focusing on the rapid deployment of its ‘AI factory’ data centers across Europe, North America, and the Middle East. These state-of-the-art facilities are purpose-built to meet the escalating demand for Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and compute capacity, which are the foundational engines driving breakthroughs in generative AI.
Nscale’s vertically integrated approach encompasses comprehensive compute, networking, storage, managed software, and AI services, all delivered within Nscale-owned and colocated data centers. The company’s strategy emphasizes leveraging strategically located greenfield data centers in regions like Norway and the UK, which boast access to ultra-low-cost renewable hydroelectric power. This not only enables Nscale to offer significant cost savings to its customers but also aligns with stringent environmental and regulatory requirements.
Josh Payne, CEO of Nscale, emphasized the company’s mission: “We are building the AI-native Infrastructure platform of tomorrow. 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.” Larry Aschebrook, Founder & Managing Partner at G Squared, added, “The team is building massive-scale, sovereign infrastructure that enterprises and nations can actually consume – reliable, efficient and close to their data.”
Key strategic partnerships and projects underpin Nscale’s growth trajectory. The company has formed a joint venture with Aker ASA and OpenAI for ‘Stargate Norway,’ a massive AI cluster targeting the deployment of 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by the end of 2026. Furthermore, Nscale recently secured a multi-billion-dollar, five-year agreement with Microsoft, valued at $6.2 billion, to deliver AI infrastructure in Narvik, Norway. In the UK, Nscale is committed to building the country’s largest AI supercomputer at its AI Campus in Loughton, in collaboration with Microsoft, NVIDIA, and OpenAI, known as ‘Stargate UK,’ which will initially house 8,000 GPUs with plans to expand to 23,000 additional GPUs.
Øyvind Eriksen, President & CEO of Aker ASA, highlighted the broader implications of Nscale’s work: “AI is reshaping the global economy and redefining the value of renewable energy.” Kanishka Narayan, UK AI Minister, also commented, “The success of UK-founded companies like Nscale shows how our country can be at the cutting edge of AI.”
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Looking ahead, Nscale plans to further expand its engineering and operations teams, accelerate the delivery of secure and compliant AI infrastructure to enterprise and government clients worldwide, and meet its initial deployment goal of 100,000 GPUs across its ‘AI factory’ data centers.
