Originally published on andrew.ooo
TL;DR
Nscale just raised $2 billion in Series C funding, valuing the company at $14.6 billion — more than double its valuation from just 6 months ago. The UK-based AI cloud infrastructure startup has only 158 employees, giving it an insane $92.4 million valuation per employee.
The round was led by Norwegian energy company Aker ASA and 8090 Industries, with participation from Nvidia, Dell, Nokia, Citadel, Jane Street, and Point72.
The Numbers That Matter
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Series C Raised | $2 billion |
| Valuation | $14.6 billion |
| Employees | 158 |
| Valuation Per Employee | $92.4 million |
| Founded | 2024 |
| Time to Unicorn | Under 2 years |
| Microsoft Deal Value | $14 billion |
What Is Nscale?
Nscale is a London-based AI cloud infrastructure company that builds data centers optimized for artificial intelligence workloads. Think of Nscale as the picks and shovels play for the AI gold rush — they're building the physical and software infrastructure that companies like Microsoft and OpenAI need.
The Full Stack Offering
- GPU-optimized data centers across the US, UK, Norway, Portugal, and Iceland
- Serverless inference endpoints for deploying AI models
- On-demand training clusters for model development
- Control Center — software that automatically scales GPU clusters
- Managed Kubernetes for AI workloads
Who's Backing Nscale?
Series C Investors
- Nvidia — The chip giant powering AI
- Dell Technologies — Enterprise hardware
- Nokia — Networking infrastructure
- Citadel — Hedge fund titan
- Jane Street — Quantitative trading firm
- Point72 — Steve Cohen's hedge fund
New Board Members
- Sheryl Sandberg — Former Meta COO
- Nick Clegg — Former UK Deputy Prime Minister
- Susan Decker — Former Yahoo President
The Mega-Deals
Microsoft Partnership: $14 Billion
Nscale announced a $14 billion partnership with Microsoft to host 200,000 Nvidia GB300 accelerators.
OpenAI's Stargate Norway
Nscale is building Stargate Norway for OpenAI with:
- 100,000 GPUs by year's end
- 230 megawatts of computing capacity
- ~$1 billion investment
158 Employees, $14.6 Billion Valuation
$92.4 million in valuation per employee.
For context:
| Company | Valuation/Employee |
|---|---|
| Nscale (2026) | $92.4 million |
| OpenAI (2024) | ~$60 million |
| Anthropic (2024) | ~$15 million |
| Meta (peak) | ~$5 million |
This is the template for AI-augmented companies: small teams leveraging AI and automation to manage unprecedented scale.
What's Next?
- Geographic Expansion into Asia
- More Acquisitions (Future-tech was first)
- IPO within 18-24 months
Josh Payne, Nscale's CEO, put it bluntly: "We are building this foundation that the market sits on, the engine of superintelligence."
📖 Read the full article with all the details, funding history, and analysis: Nscale Raises $2B at $14.6B Valuation
What do you think about these AI infrastructure valuations? Is the hype justified?
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