Nscale Seeks $3.5B in Pre-IPO Financing as AI Compute Demand Surges

Nscale, a British AI infrastructure company founded two years ago, is reportedly in talks to raise an additional $3.5 billion ahead of an expected IPO. TechCrunch reports the company has said it may go public as early as later this month. The raise would come as AI infrastructure startups attract attention because compute has become a key resource in the AI market.

The reported plan includes selling $1.5 billion in convertible notes to investors. Convertible notes are loans that can later convert into company stock, making them a common bridge financing tool before major corporate milestones. Nscale is also seeking an additional $2 billion in financing from Nvidia, according to the report.

Nvidia previously participated in Nscale’s Series B funding round in March, a $1.1 billion raise led by investment fund Aker. Nscale described that round as “the largest Series B in European history.” The company’s Series A round, in December 2024, raised $155 million.

Nscale recently signed a large deal with Anthropic worth approximately $45 billion. The company has reportedly told potential investors it has approximately $103 billion in revenue following the deal, but TechCrunch notes that figure is not current sales. It is a projection based on signed customer leases, according to The Information as cited in the article.

The financing talks highlight how aggressively AI compute providers are positioning themselves while demand remains high. For investors and industry observers, the important distinction is between contracted projections and realized sales. TechCrunch said it reached out to Nscale and Nvidia for comment.