London-based AI data centre firm Nscale has raised $1.1bn (£824m) in a Series B funding round, a record total in the UK and Europe.
The funding will be used to further its global deployment of large scale AI infrastructure and was led by Norwegian investor Aker ASA with support from existing stakeholders such as NVIDIA and Dell.
“AI is reshaping the global economy and redefining the value of renewable energy,” said Aker ASA’s Øyvind Eriksen.
“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.
“Through both our Series B investment and joint venture, we’re making a significant, long-term commitment to building industrial relevance in the age of AI.”
Headquartered in the UK and operating globally, Nscale is an AI-native infrastructure platform, providing vertically integrated compute, networking, storage, managed software and AI services delivered in Nscale-owned and colocated data centres.
This funding is set to enable the rapid rollout of the company’s data centres for projects such as Stargate UK and the expansion of its vertically integrated AI cloud platform.
“We are building the AI-native infrastructure platform of tomorrow,” Josh Payne, Nscale’s chief executive commented.
“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.
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.
“Europe needs a Hyperscaler, and Nscale is rising to the challenge.”
As well as delivering of physical AI infrastructure, Nscale is accelerating product innovation across the AI stack: launching a fine-tuning service, advanced inference APIs, an AI Studio, robust orchestration tools and private cloud enhancements.
The raise follows the recent announcement of Nscale’s UK AI infrastructure commitment. Together with Microsoft, it announced its plans to develop the UK’s largest AI supercomputer on Nscale’s AI Campus in Loughton.
