Nscale Adds Fidji Simo to Board Ahead of Potential IPO

Nscale, a U.K.-based AI data center startup, has appointed Fidji Simo to its board. Simo previously held senior roles at OpenAI, Meta, and Instacart, giving the company another high-profile technology operator as it moves toward an anticipated IPO this fall.

She joins a board that already includes Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Decker, and Nick Clegg. The appointment signals Nscale’s focus on governance, operating depth, and public-company readiness.

Simo was formerly CEO of AGI deployment at OpenAI, described by TechCrunch as essentially the AI lab’s No. 2 executive. She left OpenAI in July citing health reasons but still advises the company on a part-time basis.

Before OpenAI, Simo was chair and CEO of Instacart, where she led the company through its 2023 IPO. She also spent more than a decade at Meta, including as head of the Facebook app, and sits on Shopify’s board.

Nscale designs, builds, and operates AI data centers, a business tied directly to demand for AI infrastructure. TechCrunch reports that the company’s valuation has increased sharply since it was founded two years ago.

The startup is reportedly trying to raise up to $3.5 billion ahead of a planned IPO, according to Bloomberg reporting cited by TechCrunch. For readers tracking AI infrastructure, the key takeaway is that Nscale is pairing capital ambitions with board-level experience in scaling major consumer and enterprise platforms.

Nscale founder and CEO Josh Payne said Simo is one of the few leaders who understands how to scale products used by billions of people and the pressure those products place on underlying systems. In a statement, he said, “That’s what we’re building for at Nscale.”

Payne framed the board as deliberately built for scale, independence, financial rigor, and operating depth. That positioning matters as Nscale approaches a potential IPO and competes in a market shaped by heavy demand for AI compute capacity.