Nscale has closed the largest Series B round in European history, securing $1.1 billion to accelerate the global rollout of its AI-native infrastructure. The UK-headquartered company is addressing one of the fastest-growing challenges in technology: the worldwide shortage of GPUs and compute capacity to power generative AI breakthroughs.
Led by energy titan Aker ASA and supported by industry leaders including Microsoft, OpenAI, NVIDIA, Dell, Fidelity Management & Research, G Squared, Nokia, Point72, Blue Owl, and T.Capital, this funding round firmly establishes Nscale as a key player across Europe, North America, and the Middle East.
Founded by CEO Josh Payne, who brings extensive experience in infrastructure strategy from major cloud providers and scaling multi-billion-dollar compute platforms, Nscale’s mission is to build an AI-optimised infrastructure foundation that enables the next generation of technological innovation.
The company’s vertically integrated approach encompasses everything from cautious hardware procurement, tapping into one of the world’s largest GPU pipelines, to the software orchestration layer, delivering efficient and highly tuned performance. Nscale’s greenfield data centres, located in Norway and the UK, leverage ultra-low-cost renewable hydroelectric power.
This enables them to provide low-latency, sovereign-ready compute solutions at significantly reduced costs compared to traditional hyperscalers. On the software front, Nscale offers a comprehensive AI cloud platform supporting training, fine-tuning, inference, and orchestration, coupled with advanced APIs and an AI Studio to facilitate seamless model deployment.
Key milestones include the Stargate Norway joint venture with Aker ASA and OpenAI, which targets deployment of 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by the end of 2026, and a commitment with Microsoft to build the UK’s largest AI supercomputer at Nscale’s AI Campus in Loughton. Additional partnerships with Dell and Nokia enhance the company’s networking and sovereign cloud service offerings.
The competitive environment remains intense, with hyperscale giants like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure dominating the market. At the same time, specialised providers such as CoreWeave, Lambda Labs, and Cirrascale compete for scarce GPU resources. Nscale’s advantage lies in its custom-built, energy-efficient data centres and end-to-end vertical integration, combining superior performance, regulatory compliance, and carbon-neutral energy use.
Looking ahead, Nscale plans to meet its initial deployment goal of 100,000 GPUs, expand its “AI factory” data centres across three continents, grow its engineering and operations teams, and accelerate secure, compliant AI infrastructure delivery to enterprise and government clients worldwide.
As Payne concludes, “We are building 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.
We are creating one of the largest global platforms of its kind – purpose-built to meet surging demand and unlock breakthroughs at unprecedented scale. 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.
Europe needs a Hyperscaler, and Nscale is rising to the challenge.”
