Nscale Raises $2 Billion in Europe Largest Series C to Build AI Data Centers
In what's being called the largest Series C round in European history, UK-based AI infrastructure company Nscale has raised $2 billion at a $14.6 billion valuation. The round was led by Norwegian conglomerate Aker ASA and New York-based 8090 Industries, making Nscale one of Europe's latest decacorns alongside Helsing and Mistral AI.
From Coal Mines to Data Centers
Nscale's story is one of the more unusual ones in tech. Founded by Josh Payne, a former coal miner from Australia who moved to London and started the data center company in 2024 amid the AI boom, the startup has grown at a remarkable pace. The company has bet big on vertical integration — controlling everything from energy and data center construction to compute and orchestration software.
The $2 billion figure includes a $433 million pre-Series C SAFE backed by Blue Owl, Dell, Nvidia, and Nokia from October. Notable investors in this round include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citadel, Jane Street, Lenovo, and Point72.
A Board That Screams "IPO Is Coming"
Perhaps the most telling detail is who's joining the board: former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, former Yahoo president Susan Decker, and former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (who most recently served as Meta's president of global affairs). Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are involved as supporters. This isn't subtle — it's IPO preparation dressed up as a board appointment announcement.
Payne told The New York Times his company might seek to go public "as early as this year" to generate more capital. Given the current appetite for AI infrastructure plays, the timing could be right.
Stargate Norway: 100,000 GPUs by Year-End
A key piece of the Nscale puzzle is "Stargate Norway" — a joint venture with Aker that will now be fully managed by Nscale. This massive AI infrastructure project in Norway aims to run on 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by the end of 2026, with OpenAI as an initial customer. The Nordic location makes strategic sense: cheap renewable energy and cold climates that reduce cooling costs.
Nscale also signed an expanded deal with Microsoft last October to bring approximately 200,000 Nvidia GPUs to three data centers in Europe and one in the US, in collaboration with Dell.
The Bigger Picture
The UK government is clearly betting on AI infrastructure as a national priority. The same day as Nscale's announcement, the UK government launched Sovereign AI, a new £500 million venture fund to support AI startups. Tech Secretary Peter Kyle publicly congratulated Nscale, calling it a sign of "the strength of the UK's AI ecosystem."
Beyond equity, Nscale also raised a $1.4 billion delayed draw term loan backed by GPUs to finance some of its clusters across Europe — bringing total recent capital raised to over $3 billion.
The Bottom Line
When a company that didn't exist two years ago is now worth $14.6 billion and is talking IPO, you know the AI infrastructure gold rush is real. The question isn't whether there's demand — OpenAI, Microsoft, and every enterprise wants GPU capacity. The question is whether we're building data centers at a pace that can possibly keep up, or whether we're creating the next wave of overcapacity. For now, Nscale is riding the biggest wave European tech has ever seen.