Nscale IPO highlights dependence on Microsoft and Anthropic
British neocloud Nscale is preparing for a New York Stock Exchange listing that will test investor appetite for an AI infrastructure company with much of its contracted business concentrated in two customers. The company is targeting a valuation of $35 billion and seeking to raise $3 billion in the offering, while its IPO filing lists more than $103 billion in contracts.
About 85% of that total is associated with two supply agreements: $43.8 billion of compute for Microsoft through 2033 and a $44.6 billion agreement with Anthropic. The concentration puts the quality and conditions of those contracts at the centre of the proposed flotation.
Large backlog, conditional commitments
The Microsoft agreement provides the largest identified share of Nscale’s contracted compute demand. Anthropic’s agreement, however, is contingent on Nscale obtaining financing. Anthropic also retains the right to walk away from or cancel the arrangement if Nscale does not meet milestones that the filing characterises as stringent.
The funding requirement is particularly relevant as the company approaches public markets. In a financing process described by Nscale financing plans before a possible IPO before a possible IPO, Nscale was seeking substantial capital; it has since disclosed a larger $3.1 billion financing deal that includes $1 billion in convertible debt from Nvidia.
Nscale reported revenue of $140.6 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with $10.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Its net loss increased to $1.02 billion from $369 million. The figures illustrate the gap between rapid growth in reported sales and the capital demands of expanding AI compute capacity.
Customer concentration across AI infrastructure
Nscale’s filing also reflects a broader pattern in the AI infrastructure market. A paper by credit hedge fund Sona Asset Management, featured in the Financial Times, found that many providers depend heavily on a small group of buyers. Sona noted that interconnectedness is not inherently negative, but a setback or strategic change at a major participant can affect the wider industry.
CoreWeave, one of Nscale’s competitors, generates 67% of its revenue from Microsoft. Applied Digital derives 67% of its revenue from Oracle and 30% from CoreWeave. Nscale also competes with Nebius, Lambda and Crusoe, which recently raised $3.9 billion at a $30.9 billion valuation.
Infrastructure footprint and governance
Spun out of Australian cryptocurrency mining company Arkon Energy two years ago, Nscale operates data centres in Norway, Portugal, Texas and West Virginia. Its board includes former Meta executives Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg, alongside former OpenAI executive Fidji Simo.
For businesses evaluating AI infrastructure suppliers, Nscale’s planned listing underscores the need to examine contracted backlog alongside financing dependencies, cancellation rights and customer concentration. Large commitments can indicate demand, but the terms supporting those commitments remain material to delivery capacity and supplier risk.