London-based AI infrastructure startup Nscale has quickly risen from obscurity to become a key player in Europe’s AI ecosystem. Just two years ago, the company was still in stealth mode, with no outside funding. Last December, it announced a $155 million Series A raise, and this week revealed nearly $700 million in fresh capital from Nvidia.
Partnerships with tech giants
Nscale has been named an AI infrastructure partner for Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI, supporting their expansion across the U.K. The company signed a five-year, $6.2 billion agreement with Microsoft and Norwegian industrial group Aker to develop hyperscale AI infrastructure in Europe. OpenAI also announced plans to build a Stargate-branded data center in Norway, with Nscale committing $1 billion and aiming to deploy 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by 2027.
Rapid growth and European strategy
Nscale was spun out of Arkon Energy, originally established for cryptocurrency mining, to meet soaring demand for AI-ready data centers. Founder Josh Payne highlighted two major challenges in Europe: insufficient computing capacity and a fragmented market. Nscale’s vertically integrated model combines data center space, power, GPUs, and proprietary software to provide end-to-end AI infrastructure solutions.
Significant investment and infrastructure buildout
Nvidia confirmed a £500 million ($683 million) equity investment into Nscale, alongside a broader £11 billion ($15 billion) initiative with CoreWeave to bolster U.K. AI capacity. Microsoft is investing $15.5 billion to build the U.K.’s largest supercomputer in Loughton, Essex, initially housing 23,040 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs and generating 50 megawatts of AI capacity, scalable to 90 megawatts. OpenAI will deploy 8,000 GPUs in the first phase, with capacity expandable to 31,000 GPUs across multiple sites.
Market context and future targets
Nscale aims to have 50,000 GPUs running by the end of 2025 and 150,000 by the end of 2026. The company’s AI data center pipeline has grown from 300 megawatts to 1.3 gigawatts in less than a year. Comparatively, CoreWeave currently operates 32 data centers with 250,000 GPUs and a 2.2-gigawatt capacity. Payne stressed that the significant increase in GPU density and Nscale’s capital allows the company to scale rapidly and become one of Europe’s largest AI infrastructure providers.
Strategic importance for the U.K.
Nscale’s growth aligns with the U.K.’s push for “sovereign AI” and large-scale domestic AI infrastructure. Early announcements coincided with President Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K., highlighting the geopolitical and strategic significance of the investments. Payne described the Microsoft and Aker deal as “a huge win for European-owned AI infrastructure,” emphasizing the role of Nscale in supporting AI product development, productivity gains, and economic benefits.
