Report: Nscale Aims to Raise $2.7 Billion to Build AI Infrastructure | PYMNTS.com

London-based artificial intelligence infrastructure startup Nscale reportedly aims to raise $2.7 billion to build data centers around the globe that use Nvidia chips and rent the centers to companies that are training and operating AI models.

Nscale is working to raise a $1.8 billion private credit deal and $900 million in preferred equity and convertible shares, Bloomberg reported Monday (April 28), citing an offering document.

An Nscale spokesperson said in the report: “We recognize that increasing demand for AI and keen interest in our rapidly evolving industry is generating a lot of attention for Nscale, but we do not comment on speculation.”

Nscale has facilities in Norway and Texas and plans to build five more sites, according to the Bloomberg report.

The firm said in December that it raised $155 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate the expansion of its AI infrastructure and meet “soaring demand” for AI compute. That followed its $30 million seed funding round in December 2023.

“The AI market is scaling rapidly, and so are we,” Nscale CEO Joshua Payne said in a Dec. 9 press release.

Payne said the company “manages every layer of infrastructure in the value chain to meet the intensive needs of large-scale AI customers” and highlighted its access to the electricity required to power these GPU superclusters.

Research institute Epoch AI said in a paper posted Wednesday (April 23) that companies building AI-powered supercomputers may run into power constraints by 2030.

“If the observed trends continue, the leading AI supercomputer in June 2030 will need 2 million AI chips, cost $200 billion and require 9GW of power,” the paper said. “Historical AI chip production growth and major capital commitments like the $500 billion Project Stargate suggest the first two requirements can likely be met. However, 9GW of power is the equivalent of nine nuclear reactors, a scale beyond any existing industrial facilities.”

It was reported in March that AI startup and cloud computing provider CoreWeave scaled back its initial public offering (IPO) from about $4 billion to $2.7 billion due to a broader stock market slump resulting from increased volatility.