Nick Clegg and Sheryl Sandberg join board of British AI start-up Nscale
Nick Clegg and Sheryl Sandberg have joined the board of British artificial intelligence infrastructure start-up Nscale as the company completed a major fundraising round valuing the business at $14.6 billion.
The appointments come as Nscale secured $2 billion in fresh capital from a consortium of global investors, including the US semiconductor giant Nvidia, significantly boosting the firm’s ambitions to build large-scale data centre infrastructure for the rapidly expanding AI industry.
The move positions Nscale among the most valuable technology start-ups in Europe and reflects growing investor appetite for the infrastructure that underpins artificial intelligence development.
Founded in May 2024 by entrepreneur John Payne, Nscale focuses on building the large data centres needed to run advanced AI models and cloud computing services.
The company is betting that the explosive growth of AI will require vast new computing capacity over the coming decade.
Payne said artificial intelligence was set to transform nearly every sector of the global economy.
“Over the next five years, artificial intelligence will be integrated into every industry, every product and every job,” he said. “Accelerating drug discovery, extending human life, automating travel and robotics, lifting productivity and driving massive economic growth.”
“This is leading to the largest infrastructure build-out in human history. Nscale is leading this build-out.”
The company plans to invest $2.5 billion in UK data centre infrastructure over the coming years, strengthening Britain’s role in the global AI supply chain.
One of the company’s flagship projects is the construction of what it describes as the largest “UK sovereign” AI data centre.
The facility is planned for Loughton in Essex and is expected to be operational by 2026.
The term “sovereign” refers to the fact that the data centre will host AI infrastructure based within the UK and designed to support national research institutions, businesses and government operations.
Demand for such infrastructure has surged as companies race to deploy advanced AI models requiring enormous computing power.
The data centre will rely heavily on Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs), widely regarded as the most powerful chips available for training and running artificial intelligence systems.
Clegg’s appointment adds significant political and regulatory expertise to the company’s leadership.
The former UK deputy prime minister spent several years at Meta as president of global affairs, where he oversaw policy, regulation and government relations across the company’s global operations.
His experience navigating international regulatory frameworks is expected to be particularly valuable as governments around the world grapple with the governance of AI technologies.
Sandberg, who previously served as Meta’s chief operating officer and played a key role in building the company into one of the world’s largest technology firms, brings extensive operational and leadership expertise to the board.
Together, the two figures represent some of the most senior executives to move from Silicon Valley’s social media industry into the emerging AI infrastructure sector.
The latest funding round included participation from several major global investors.
Alongside Nvidia, the round was backed by Aker ASA and New York-based investment firm 8090 Industries.
Nscale had already attracted significant funding before the latest round.
In December 2024, the company raised $155 million in a Series A funding round led by Sandton Capital Partners.
Last year, Nvidia also committed approximately £500 million in investment, strengthening the strategic partnership between the chip manufacturer and the UK start-up.
Nvidia founder Jensen Huang has previously described Nscale as a potential “national champion” for Britain in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market.
Alongside Clegg and Sandberg, the company has also appointed Susan Decker to its board.
Decker, the chief executive and co-founder of university software platform Raftr, previously served as president of Yahoo and currently sits on the boards of several major organisations including Costco, Berkshire Hathaway and Vox Media.
Her appointment further strengthens Nscale’s leadership team as it prepares for large-scale infrastructure expansion.
The surge in investment reflects a broader global race to build the computing infrastructure needed to support next-generation AI systems.
Training large language models and advanced AI applications requires enormous amounts of processing power, storage and energy.
As a result, technology companies, governments and investors are pouring billions into data centre construction worldwide.
Much of this growth is tied to cloud platforms such as Microsoft and its Azure cloud services, which rely on powerful AI infrastructure to deliver machine learning capabilities to businesses and developers.
Nscale’s projects are expected to help expand the availability of such services within the UK and across Europe.
The expansion of companies such as Nscale forms part of a broader push by the UK government to position the country as a global hub for artificial intelligence research and development.
Britain already hosts some of the world’s leading AI institutions and companies, including DeepMind and a growing ecosystem of technology start-ups.
Large-scale data centre investment is seen as critical to maintaining that competitive advantage.
As the AI boom accelerates, infrastructure firms like Nscale are likely to play an increasingly central role in determining where the next generation of technological breakthroughs occurs.
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Nick Clegg and Sheryl Sandberg join board of British AI start-up Nscale
