Nvidia's £2 Billion Investment Boosts UK's AI Ecosystem, Partners with Crypto Mining Spinoff Nscale

Nvidia's UK Partner Is a 16-Month-Old Crypto Mining Spinout

Nscale, a little known British data center company that spun out of a crypto miner last year, has found itself at the forefront of a massive artificial intelligence-fueled data center boom. Nvidia Corp. is investing £500 million ($683 million) in Nscale, Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang told reporters in London on Wednesday, and said the UK-based company would be part of an AI infrastructure buildout valued at as much as £11 billion. OpenAI named it as a partner for Stargate UK, an offshoot of an even larger US effort to increase the capacity to run AI systems. Microsoft Corp. said this week it would rent $6.2 billion in computing power from Nscale in Norway.

AI startup Nscale came out of nowhere and is blowing away Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Two years ago, Nscale was a brand new startup in the U.K. that had yet to raise any outside funding or officially announce its existence. Last year the London-based company came out of stealth, and in December announced that it had raised its Series A fundraising, totaling $155 million. Now, Nscale finds itself at the center of the action in the hottest market on the planet: artificial intelligence. And it has close to $700 million in fresh capital from Nvidia, the world's most valuable company. In press releases on Tuesday, Nscale was named as an AI infrastructure partner for Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI, as the companies expand their buildouts in the U.K. Nscale then said it signed a five-year $6.2 billion agreement with Microsoft and Aker to develop "hyperscale AI infrastructure" in Europe, specifically Norway, where Aker is headquartered. OpenAI made prior headlines with Nscale, announcing plans in July for a data center in Norway for a Stargate-branded AI data center. Nscale agreed to commit $1 billion for the project, with the goal of racking up 100,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) at the site before 2027. It's a remarkably quick rise for a company that wasn't even around when OpenAI kicked off the generative AI boom with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. At that time, what's now Nscale was part of Arkon Energy, which was established a year earlier to provide infrastructure for cryptocurrency mining. Nscale was spun out to address soaring demand for data centers capable of handling AI workloads.

Nvidia pledges to invest £2 billion to boost AI start-ups in the UK

This comes on the back of a series of tech announcements in the UK this week, shared while US President Donald Trump visits the country. The world's biggest public company Nvidia announced on Thursday that it would invest £2 billion (€2.3bn) in UK artificial intelligence start-ups. The pledge comes as a number of other tech firms are also making promises to funnel capital into the country, notably during US President Donald Trump's trip to the UK. The announcements have turned the nation into the centre of the AI world this week. During Trump's state visit, the UK has secured a series of investments amounting to £150bn (€172.2bn) spread out across the UK's technology, finance and energy sectors, creating more than 7,600 jobs, according to the government. Private equity group Blackstone pledged to spend £100bn (€114.8bn) over 10 years, and Microsoft made a £22bn (€25.25bn) commitment. Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang has been in Britain, too, attending events with the US president along with other Silicon Valley bigwigs. Among the new initiatives announced, Nvidia has pledged to invest £11bn (€12.6bn) to help build UK AI factories by the end of 2026, with partners including CoreWeave, Microsoft and Nscale. It is also seeking to boost quantum computing in the UK. The further £2bn the company has just pledged to spend in the country will go towards supporting the start-up ecosystem. "The new capital will be used to foster economic growth, develop more innovative AI technologies, create new companies and jobs, and empower the UK to compete in the AI market globally," Nvidia said. The company also noted that scaling AI companies is currently difficult in the country due to "limited access to supercomputing, constrained venture capital (VC) outside London, rising energy costs and difficulty for VCs to access leading academic institutions, where many researchers are also entrepreneurs," it said. Nvidia is partnering with venture-capital investors Accel, Air Street Capital, Balderton, Hoxton Ventures and Phoenix Court to provide capital and AI infrastructure for start-ups, researchers and developers. The focus is on hubs including London, Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.

Nvidia partners with UK crypto miner's arm as part of AI push: Report

The reported $683-million investment from Nvidia into Nscale came amid a push by the UK government to develop the country's AI infrastructure. Nvidia, one of the most significant chip designers globally, reportedly announced a $683 million investment in a UK-based AI infrastructure company that spun off from a cryptocurrency miner in 2024. According to a Wednesday Bloomberg report, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the investment in Nscale, the AI arm of crypto mining company Arkon Energy, would be part of efforts to develop the UK's infrastructure around artificial intelligence. Nscale spun off Arkon in May 2024 to offer AI cloud services across Europe. The investment came amid a push by the UK government to develop the country's AI infrastructure. Nvidia said it would partner with Nscale to scale up the UK's capacity to 60,000 GPUs, which will be included in some of Nscale's data centers by 2026. "Sovereign AI infrastructure is key to national resilience, economic growth and strategic autonomy," said Nscale CEO Josh Payne regarding the UK expansion. "This milestone deepens our commitment to providing critical AI infrastructure for the next industrial revolution." Related: Crypto startups no longer welcome in Nvidia's accelerator program In January, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government planned to adopt a plan with 50 recommendations "to capture the opportunities of AI." At the time, Nscale, Vantage Data Centres and Kyndryl committed about a combined $17 billion toward the investment. Headquartered in California, Nvidia beat out all the major tech companies to reach $4 trillion in market capitalization in July. Some experts suggested the surge in stock price behind the milestone was driven by investor confidence in a push toward technologies dealing with AI. The milestone marked Nvidia's valuation just above the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, which has hovered near $4 trillion since July.

Nvidia invests in £2 billion into UK AI ecosystem including Revolut, Nscale - Bloomberg

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. Bloomberg reported that the technology giant is committed to lifting the UK as an AI hub, and funding research for AI and supercomputing. Revolut is among the beneficiaries of Nvidia's investment, along with a £500 million stake each in AI datacentre Nscale and self-driving startup Wayve. PolyAI, Synthesia, Latent Labs, and Basecamp Research will also receive funding from Nvidia. Venture capital firms Accel, Balderton Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Phoenix Court, and Air Street Capital facilitated the investments. The announcement was made in London, where Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and US president Donald Trump were both attending the Windsor Castle state banquet. The plan aligns with commitments from the UK government to boost AI growth and technology development. In June 2025, Nvidia joined Microsoft in becoming a partner for Barclays London innovation hub.

Nvidia backs UK AI sector with $2.7B investment in startups, supercomputing By Invezz

Invezz.com - Nvidia Corp. has announced a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) investment in the United Kingdom's artificial intelligence sector, marking one of its most significant overseas expansions. The move comes alongside collaborations with British startups, global venture capital firms, and data centre operators, aiming to position the UK as a strong hub in the international AI market. The announcement coincided with US President Donald Trump's visit to the UK, during which major technology companies including Microsoft and OpenAI also unveiled investment plans. Nvidia's financing seeks to ease challenges such as rising energy costs, limited access to supercomputing, and scarce funding faced by UK startups. Nvidia's investment structure and partnershipsAccording to Bloomberg, the investment package includes a £500 million equity stake in Nscale, a British AI data centre startup that spun out of a crypto miner just 14 months ago. Nvidia confirmed this funding will be deployed from its balance sheet, with allocations domiciled in the US but activated in the UK. The company has partnered with well-known venture capital firms Accel, Balderton Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Phoenix Court, and Air Street Capital. While these firms will support Nvidia in identifying promising startups, they will not necessarily co-invest in the projects. Part of the investment is directed at autonomous vehicle technology developers Wayve and Oxa, as well as fintech company Revolut. AI firms including PolyAI, Synthesia, Latent Labs, and Basecamp Research are also beneficiaries. Wayve separately confirmed a $500 million injection from Nvidia to accelerate the rollout of its AI model. Funding for research and supercomputingNvidia said the financing would provide UK researchers and startups with much-needed access to both capital and computing resources. The company highlighted that its UK partnerships would bring advanced supercomputing infrastructure closer to the local AI ecosystem. This is expected to alleviate constraints such as limited processing capacity and soaring energy prices, two issues that have slowed the growth of Britain's AI market. The announcement follows Nvidia's tie-up with OpenAI and Nscale for the launch of Stargate UK, a new branch of a larger American programme designed to expand AI system capacity. The plan links back to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's January strategy to "turbocharge AI" in Britain by supporting data centres, chip production, and establishing AI growth zones with priority planning approvals. Political and corporate contextNvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang unveiled the plan in London, framing it as part of a broader shift to strengthen transatlantic technology ties. Huang joined Trump at a state banquet at Windsor Castle alongside King Charles III, underlining the high-level political backdrop to the announcement. The United Kingdom remains Europe's biggest startup market by deal volume, hosting firms like Google's DeepMind and other high-profile AI players, yet it has not developed a homegrown AI champion comparable to OpenAI or France's Mistral. With US companies increasing their footprint, the country aims to close that gap. Nvidia's financing adds to a series of high-value technology announcements, including Microsoft and OpenAI's UK commitments, which together amount to tens of billions of dollars. Prime Minister Starmer described Nvidia's move as a long-term boost to the country's standing in global technology, aligning with his administration's goal of using private sector partnerships to reinforce Britain's AI competitiveness.

Nvidia is investing £2bn in the UK AI startup ecosystem

According to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this is the "largest technology agreement ever signed between the UK and the US." Nvidia has officially announced a £2bn investment in the UK to boost the local artificial intelligence startup ecosystem, in partnership with venture capital funds such as Accel, Balderton Capital, and Hoxton Ventures. The announcement was made in London at an event attended by British and American leaders and industry executives. The plan includes the deployment of 120,000 Blackwell GPUs, the largest AI infrastructure ever set up in the UK, as well as the creation of new 'AI factories' with Microsoft, OpenAI, CoreWeave, and Nscale. Nvidia will also collaborate with Oxford Quantum Circuits to build a quantum-GPU center and with techUK to develop a robotics research hub and train new talent. The Isambard-AI supercomputer, based at the University of Bristol and powered by Nvidia's Grace Hopper chips, will be at the heart of national projects in health, climate, and public services, the company said.