Nscale adds ex-OpenAI exec Fidji Simo to board before IPO
Original: Nscale adds former OpenAI exec Fidji Simo to its board ahead of potential IPO
Why This Matters
Nscale's board additions and $3.5B raise signal serious IPO preparation in a crowded AI infrastructure race.
U.K.-based AI data center startup Nscale has appointed Fidji Simo — former No. 2 at OpenAI, ex-Instacart CEO, and longtime Meta executive — to its board of directors as the company prepares for a fall IPO and a reported $3.5 billion fundraise.
Nscale, a U.K.-based AI data center startup founded just two years ago, has added Fidji Simo to its board ahead of an anticipated IPO this fall. Simo joins a board that already includes Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Decker, and Nick Clegg — a roster that signals Nscale is clearly building for public-market scrutiny.
Simo left OpenAI in July, citing health reasons, after serving as CEO of AGI Deployment — effectively the company's second-in-command. She continues to advise OpenAI part-time. Before that, she steered Instacart through its 2023 IPO as chair and CEO, and spent over a decade at Meta, including as head of the Facebook app. She also sits on Shopify's board.
Nscale CEO Josh Payne said Simo is 'one of the few leaders who understand what it means to scale products used by billions of people and the demands those products place on the underlying systems.' Bloomberg reported last week that Nscale is seeking to raise up to $3.5 billion ahead of the planned listing, citing unnamed sources. The company designs, builds, and operates AI data centers, and its valuation has climbed sharply on booming demand for AI infrastructure.