Nick Clegg and Sheryl Sandberg join board of UK AI startup Nscale after $2bn funding

Nick Clegg and Sheryl Sandberg have joined the board of British Artificial Intelligence infrastructure startup Inscale as the company completes a massive $14.6 billion venture capital funding round.

The appointment comes as Nscale secured $2 billion in new funding from a mix of global investors, including US semiconductor giant Nvidia, which has boosted the firm’s ambitions to build a big data center infrastructure for the fast-growing AI industry.

This move places Nscale among the most important technology startups in Europe and reflects the growing appetite of investors for the infrastructure that supports the development of artificial intelligence.

Founded in May 2024 by entrepreneur John Payne, Nscale focuses on building the large data centers needed to run advanced AI models and cloud computing services.

The company is betting that the explosive growth of AI will require massive new computing capacity over the next decade.

Payne said artificial intelligence is poised to transform almost every sector of the global economy.

“In 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, driving automation and robotics, raising productivity and promoting greater economic growth.”

“This is leading to the largest infrastructure build in human history. Nscale is at the forefront of this build.”

The company plans to invest £2.5 billion in UK data center infrastructure over the coming years, strengthening Britain’s role in the global AI supply chain.

One of the company’s flagship projects is the creation of what it describes as the UK’s largest “independent” AI data centre.

The facility is planned for Loughton in Essex and is expected to be operational by 2026.

The word “sovereign” refers to the fact that the data center will host AI infrastructure based within the UK and designed to support national research institutes, businesses and government operations.

The need for such infrastructure has grown as companies rush to deploy advanced AI models that require massive computing power.

The data center will rely heavily on Nvidia 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, ethics and government relations for the company’s global operations.

His experience navigating international regulatory frameworks is expected to be invaluable as governments around the world grapple with the dominance of AI technology.

Sandberg, who previously served as Meta’s CEO and was instrumental in building the company into one of the world’s largest technology companies, brings a wealth of operational and leadership expertise to the board.

Together, the two figures represent some of the most senior executives to move from Silicon Valley’s telecommunications industry to the emerging AI infrastructure sector.

The latest round of funding included the participation of several major global investors.

Alongside Nvidia, the round was funded 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 made around £500 million in investment, strengthening the relationship between the chip maker and the UK startup.

Nvidia founder Jensen Huang has previously described Nscale as Britain’s “national champion” in the fast-growing AI infrastructure market.

Alongside Clegg and Sandberg, the company also appointed Susan Decker to its board.

Decker, the CEO and co-founder of university software company Raftr, previously served as president of Yahoo and currently sits on the boards of several major corporations including Costco, Berkshire Hathaway and Vox Media.

His appointment also strengthens Nscale’s leadership team as it prepares for major 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 large amounts of processing power, storage and power.

As a result, technology companies, governments and investors are pouring billions into data center construction around the world.

Much of this growth is tied to cloud platforms such as Microsoft and its Azure cloud services, which rely on powerful AI infrastructure to bring machine learning capabilities to businesses and developers.

Nscale’s projects are expected to help increase the availability of these services in the UK and across Europe.

The expansion of companies like Nscale is part of the UK government’s wider plan 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 startups.

A large data center investment is seen as critical to maintaining that competitive advantage.

As AI accelerates, infrastructure firms like Nscale will likely play a key role in determining where the next generation of technological breakthroughs takes place.