Nscale swallows lion's share of UK datacenter investment

Nscale, a rent-a-GPU operation, has secured nearly two-thirds of the equity funding raised by UK datacenter infrastructure companies, a Tracxn report reveals. As the only unicorn in Britain's datacenter infrastructure sector, Nscale has raised $3.7 billion, accounting for $5.7 billion across the entire sector. Other significant players include GreenScale, Kao Data, Verne, Iceotope, and Six Degrees Group, each with funding in the range of hundreds of millions.

Iceotope, though a developer of liquid-cooling systems, is included in the broader infrastructure category by Tracxn. The sector, comprising 154 companies with 24 having raised equity funding, has seen a surge in investment due to the growing demand for AI infrastructure. London-based companies garnered 93% of the funding, indicating the sector's concentrated presence in the capital.

Tracxn also notes 36 acquisitions and only two IPOs in the Brit datacenter infrastructure sector. While US operators like Digital Realty, Vantage Data Centers, CyrusOne, and Equinix have a significant UK footprint, Onnec's research highlights the risk of infrastructure lagging behind AI hardware investment upgrades.