London-based AI infrastructure company Nscale, which started in 2024 as an offshoot of Melbourne bitcoin miner Arkon Energy, has raised US$3.36 billion in pre-IPO convertible notes led by hedge fund Third Point, The Next Web reported in September 2026.
The raise comes ahead of a planned listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Nscale is one of the so-called neoclouds, companies that build and run GPU data centres for AI developers, a group that has drawn billions from investors as demand for AI computing power has climbed. Its story shows how the skills of crypto mining carried over to the AI build-out.
From crypto to AI compute
Nscale was spun out of Arkon Energy in early 2024. Co-founder Josh Payne is Australian, and the company is now headquartered in London. Crypto mining and AI data centres need many of the same things: cheap power, cooling and the ability to build quickly.
The company builds AI data centres and GPU cloud infrastructure and pitches itself as a full-stack provider for AI labs and other heavy users of compute, with sites planned or running in the UK and the US.
The raise
Third Point led the convertible note round, with Nvidia, Apollo, Citadel, Hudson Bay Capital and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council among the other investors, according to The Next Web. Goldman Sachs acted as placement agent. The total fell short of the US$3.5 billion the company had reportedly sought weeks earlier.
Nvidia has separately committed a further US$1 billion, expected in mid-November. The notes convert into shares when the company lists, at the IPO price minus a discount.
The numbers and the float
Nscale reports a contracted backlog of about US$103 billion, up from US$38 billion at the end of 2025, though most of that is revenue not yet earned. First half revenue was US$140.6 million, more than 13 times the same period a year earlier, against a net loss of about US$1 billion.
The company has filed to list on the NYSE under the ticker NSCL, with the float reported to target a valuation of up to US$35 billion. Its board includes former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.
Jack’s take
Bitcoin mining is all about cheap power and building fast, which is exactly what AI needs, so the pivot makes sense. But the US$103 billion backlog is the company’s own number, and the losses are large. The float is where it gets tested.