Nscale warns of funding needs as debt reaches US$5.5 billion

Nscale says it must raise more capital to finance growth, reporting preliminary debt of US$5.5 billion on 30 September in an updated prospectus for its proposed US initial public offering. The British AI cloud provider reported debt of US$78.9 million at the close of 2025.

The company's preliminary figures put expected revenue for 2026's first nine months at US$307.5 million, against US$21.3 million a year earlier. Its net loss for that period was US$1.69 billion, compared with US$433.3 million in 2025. Nscale said the figures remain subject to change.

A major funding requirement concerns Anthropic, its largest customer. The prospectus values their computing agreement at up to about US$44.6 billion. According to Bloomberg, the contract runs for six years and covers 460 megawatts in Monarch, West Virginia, where capacity is due to begin operating in late 2027.

Bloomberg reported that Nscale has committed about US$1 billion to the site and requires at least US$30 billion more. Further financing is also needed for Nvidia equipment, with penalties possible if Nscale cannot fund those purchases. Anthropic has termination rights if financing or delivery requirements are not met.

Nvidia, both a shareholder and chip supplier, committed US$2 billion toward September's convertible financing package of more than US$3 billion, Bloomberg reported. Nscale said the relationship does not entitle it to preferential chip supplies, pricing or early product access. Nvidia has also discussed guaranteeing debt for the Anthropic site.

The planned listing would place Nscale on the New York Stock Exchange as NSCL. Offering leaders are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. Neither a price range nor a fundraising target has been disclosed.