Nscale Files for $35 Billion IPO as AI Cloud Provider Targets NYSE Listing Despite Market Uncertainty

Nscale Files for IPO Targeting $35 Billion Valuation

London-based AI cloud provider Nscale has filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker NSCL, targeting a valuation of up to $35 billion1

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. The move comes just two years after the company spun out from Australian cryptocurrency mining infrastructure group Arkon Energy in 20241

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. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley are serving as lead bookrunners for the offering2

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The vertically integrated AI hyperscaler, led by founder and CEO Josh Payne, employs about 450 people in the UK and will maintain its British domicile while listing in the US1

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. As part of the listing, Nscale will launch a retail offering for UK investors through the platform RetailBook, allowing them to purchase shares at the same price as existing shareholders1

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Explosive Revenue Growth Amid Mounting Losses

Nscale reported a net loss of $1.02 billion on revenues of $140.6 million in the first half of 2026, with the bulk of losses driven by non-cash charges1

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. However, the company demonstrated remarkable revenue growth of 1,252% compared to the same period in 2025, when it generated just $10.4 million3

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. The net loss increased nearly threefold from $368.9 million a year earlier4

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The AI cloud infrastructure provider has raised $3.7 billion in equity and more than $5 billion in debt ahead of its IPO1

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. Most recently, Nscale raised $2 billion in March at a $14.6 billion valuation in a round led by Norwegian energy group Aker and 8090 Industries, with backing from Nvidia, Dell, and Nokia1

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. The company also secured at least $3.1 billion in convertible notes, with $1 billion coming from Nvidia4

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Massive Contract Pipeline Exceeds $100 Billion

Nscale's active and contracted total contract value reached $103.4 billion as of August 31, 2026, up from $38 billion at the end of 20255

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. The data center operator reported running approximately 25,000 active graphics processing units under contracts worth $2.6 billion as of the end of August1

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. Another 461,000 Nvidia GPUs are set to be deployed under $101 billion of contracts not yet started1

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Last month, Nscale signed a landmark deal with Anthropic worth up to $45 billion over six years to rent AI computing capacity from its flagship Monarch Compute Campus in West Virginia1

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. The agreement will provide approximately 460 megawatts of capacity at the site, which is under construction and scheduled to start coming online late next year1

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. Nscale estimates the facility will cost about $70 billion, including a 2-gigawatt natural gas power plant, with a clear expansion path to over 8 gigawatts of gross power1

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The Nvidia-backed company has also secured major contracts with Microsoft and OpenAI, though OpenAI put its planned Stargate UK project at an Nscale site in north-east England on hold in April1

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. Additionally, Figure AI committed to renting up to 100,000 graphics cards from Nscale, with the data center provider taking a stake in the humanoid robot developer4

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High-Profile Board and Growing Infrastructure Footprint

Nscale has assembled a notable board including former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg, and recently appointed Fidji Simo, a former OpenAI, Instacart, and Meta executive who stepped down as OpenAI's product and business chief in July1

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. The company has received enthusiastic endorsement from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who declared it a "national champion for the UK" as the chip giant planned to invest £500 million in Nscale1

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The company currently operates five AI-optimized facilities in Ireland, Norway, and Portugal, with 11 additional data center projects underway4

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. Nscale plans to spend $1.85 billion building a 200-megawatt data center in Ward County, Texas, equipped with Nvidia's latest Rubin GPUs and Vera CPUs, and another $1.2 billion upgrading a 96-acre site in Madison, North Carolina4

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. The company had over 1,000 full-time employees as of August 31, 20263

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Timing Concerns Amid AI Slowdown Calls

The Nscale IPO filing comes at a precarious moment for AI infrastructure investments. Last weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for an industry slowdown in AI development, a position backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman and SpaceX's Elon Musk1

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. These calls sparked a sell-off among AI infrastructure and semiconductor stocks, driven by fears that Big Tech companies would slow their capital investment in data centers1

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Nuclear energy company Holtec International pulled its planned IPO on Wednesday over investor concerns about a potential slowdown in the AI data center market1

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. The fall IPO season has kicked off on a shaky note as surging bond yields and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy tightening cycle weigh on investor sentiment2

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Despite these headwinds, Nscale expects its profit margins to improve significantly as its data center capacity and revenue grow, with engineering and other expenses remaining largely fixed4

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. The company competes with market-leading cloud providers like Amazon, as well as younger AI-centric suppliers like CoreWeave and Nebius3

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. Watch whether Nscale can execute on its massive pipeline and whether investor appetite for AI infrastructure remains robust despite mounting concerns about development pace and capital intensity.