From Crypto Mining to AI Powerhouse: The Meteoric Rise of Nscale

In a remarkably short span of time, London-based startup Nscale has transformed from a modest cryptocurrency mining operation into one of the most promising players in the artificial intelligence infrastructure landscape. “I’ve never seen a startup take off like that before,” remarked Nvidia’s cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang, expressing his astonishment at Nscale’s extraordinary trajectory. This formerly obscure company emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the $200 billion in deals announced during President Donald Trump’s recent state visit to the United Kingdom. The startup secured a $500 million investment from Nvidia and formed a partnership with the chip giant and OpenAI to construct one of its massive “Stargate” data centers in the UK. This remarkable achievement places Nscale among a new wave of “neocloud” companies like Coreweave that are building the GPU-powered data centers essential to the current AI revolution.

During a high-profile event in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Huang specifically acknowledged Nscale’s CEO Josh Payne, noting the company’s incredible progress in just three months. “Three months ago, when I met Josh, they were zero billion dollars [revenue]. Today, Josh is zero billion dollars [revenue], but with potential,” Huang said. He further revealed ambitious plans for Nscale’s expansion: “In just three months, we have helped Josh set up Nscale and they are underway to scaling up to 300,000 GPUs around the world…and 60,000 here in the U.K.” Such a massive buildout would position this little-known startup on par with Nasdaq-listed CoreWeave, which reported operating approximately 250,000 GPUs in its March IPO prospectus. CoreWeave’s market value has since skyrocketed to $60 billion, demonstrating the enormous potential for companies pivoting from crypto mining to AI infrastructure. Huang’s expectations for Nscale appear even more ambitious, as evidenced by a gift he presented to Payne – a bottle of Johnnie Walker whisky inscribed with the bold prediction: “Zero to $50 billion in 18 months.”

Nscale’s origin story follows a now-familiar pattern in the AI infrastructure space. The company was spun out of an obscure Australian cryptocurrency miner called Arkon Energy in August 2023. After the split, Nscale inherited a data center in the remote Norwegian town of Glomfjord, which was subsequently repurposed from mining cryptocurrencies to powering AI startups – a transition mirroring the paths taken by competitors like Coreweave and Crusoe. In an August interview with Forbes, Payne declined to specify exactly how many GPUs the company had deployed but mentioned that Nscale had 40 megawatts of AI capacity online. While this is significantly less than CoreWeave’s 1.3 gigawatts of capacity, Nscale’s trajectory has been undeniably impressive. The startup raised $155 million from investors in December 2024, with some financing coming through convertible notes listed on the International Stock Exchange Group, a small stock market based in Guernsey. To bolster its growth, the company recruited data center veterans with experience from Iron Mountain, Google, and Amazon Web Services, along with Imran Shafi, the British government’s former director of AI opportunities.

Nscale’s breakthrough moment came in July when it secured a deal to build OpenAI’s first “Stargate” AI data center in Norway’s Arctic circle, partnering with Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke’s Aker industrial conglomerate. “We operate in Norway exclusively today. We’re doing deployments in about five countries over the space of the next six months and our intention over the next two years is to be in about 15 European countries,” Payne told Forbes in August. Currently, Nscale’s website only showcases its Glomfjord data center, which operates with just 30 megawatts of capacity. When asked about its other facilities, a company spokesperson explained, “Nscale has multiple data centres including Nscale owned and colocated. Due to security and client sensitivities, we do not share the details of our full global footprint.” In addition to its partnership with OpenAI for a 30,000 GPU “Stargate” facility in the UK, Nscale separately arranged for Microsoft to lease an unfinished 50-megawatt data center in southwest England that Nscale had acquired only months earlier. While impressive, these projects are considerably smaller than the original “Stargate” project – a massive 4.5 gigawatt data center that OpenAI is constructing in Abilene, Texas, in collaboration with Oracle and Crusoe.

Despite its Australian origins and backing from primarily American “opportunistic hedge fund investors,” Nscale is positioning itself as a European “sovereign” alternative to Silicon Valley’s tech giants. “Europe lacks AI infrastructure that’s European sovereign, that’s something we’re working fiercely to solve,” said Payne. This strategic positioning may serve the company well as Europe seeks to establish greater technological independence and build its own AI capabilities. Nscale wasn’t the only beneficiary of Huang’s attention during his UK tour – the Nvidia founder announced plans to invest over $2.7 billion in various British startups, including digital bank Revolut and self-driving car company Wayve. “I look forward to making a fortune off you,” he told founders at the London event, reflecting his confidence in the UK’s tech ecosystem and the potential returns on these investments.

For Nvidia, supporting companies like Nscale represents a strategic hedge against overreliance on tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta. While these companies are currently huge customers for Nvidia’s chips, they are also developing their own AI chips that could eventually compete with or replace Nvidia’s products. By fostering relationships with emerging “neoclouds,” Nvidia diversifies its customer base while ensuring continued demand for its GPUs. The symbiotic relationship benefits both parties: Nscale gains access to cutting-edge technology and financial backing, while Nvidia secures a loyal customer committed to deploying its hardware at scale. As the AI boom continues to accelerate, Nscale’s remarkable transformation from crypto miner to AI infrastructure provider illustrates the enormous opportunities available to agile companies willing to pivot toward the technologies of tomorrow. With Nvidia’s substantial backing and OpenAI’s partnership, Nscale has positioned itself at the forefront of Europe’s AI infrastructure landscape, poised for potentially unprecedented growth in the coming years.