From stealth mode to AI infrastructure powerhouse, Nscale is accelerating Europe’s bid to become a global AI leader.
Nscale, a U.K.-based AI startup, has made a meteoric rise from its origins as part of crypto mining firm Arkon Energy to a central player in Europe’s AI ecosystem. Emerging from stealth in May 2024 and raising $155 million in its Series A last December, the company has now attracted close to $700 million in fresh capital from Nvidia.
On Tuesday, Nscale was officially named as an AI infrastructure partner for Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI, as the tech giants expand their AI buildouts in the U.K. The startup also announced a five-year, $6.2 billion agreement with Microsoft and Aker to develop “hyperscale AI infrastructure” in Norway, while committing $1 billion to a Stargate-branded AI data center project with OpenAI, aiming to deploy 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by 2027.
Founded to address Europe’s fragmented AI computing market and growing demand for data center capacity, Nscale combines high-performance infrastructure with proprietary software to provide end-to-end AI solutions—similar to the trajectory of CoreWeave, another company with crypto roots that pivoted to AI infrastructure. CEO Josh Payne emphasizes the potential for these projects to drive productivity and economic growth, highlighting the strategic importance of European-owned AI infrastructure in the continent’s push for “sovereign AI.”
Nscale’s rapid ascent underscores how quickly a startup can emerge from stealth and position itself at the heart of the generative AI revolution, helping the U.K. solidify its ambitions as a global AI hub.
