Nscale, a UK-based artificial intelligence infrastructure company, has raised $1.1bn in what it claims is the largest-ever Series B funding round in Europe, as demand for data centres intensifies.
The financing was led by Norwegian investment group Aker ASA, with participation from Dell, Fidelity, Nokia, Nvidia, Point72, and T.Capital, alongside existing investors such as Sandton Capital. Goldman Sachs acted as sole placement agent.
Founded in London, Nscale operates data centres designed specifically for AI workloads, combining computing power, storage, networking, and managed services.
Its vertically integrated model seeks to address a chronic shortage of graphics processing units (GPUs), the chips powering generative AI, while offering customers access to lower-cost renewable energy in Europe.
The company said the new capital will accelerate the rollout of large-scale “AI factory” data centres across Europe, North America, and the Middle East, including flagship projects Stargate UK and Stargate Norway, both developed with OpenAI and Microsoft. In July, Nscale unveiled a joint venture with Aker and OpenAI in Norway targeting the deployment of 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by the end of 2026.
Josh Payne, Nscale’s Chief Executive, said the company aimed to create “one of the largest global platforms of its kind – purpose-built to meet surging demand and unlock breakthroughs at unprecedented scale”.
The investment comes as governments and enterprises race to secure AI infrastructure capacity amid geopolitical concerns over chip supply chains and energy-intensive data centres. Nscale has positioned itself as a European alternative to US hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
Øyvind Eriksen, Chief Executive of Aker, said the deal represented a “long-term commitment to building industrial relevance in the age of AI”, while Nokia announced it would partner with Nscale to integrate its networking technology into the platform.
The UK government, which has prioritised sovereign AI infrastructure, welcomed the deal. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said Nscale’s progress showed how “UK-founded companies can be at the cutting edge of AI” and help the country compete internationally.
Nscale, whose leadership team has previously developed more than 50 data centres worldwide, is also expanding its cloud services, including fine-tuning tools, inference APIs, and orchestration platforms. The company plans to grow its engineering and operations teams to deliver services to enterprise and government clients.
