Nscale adds Fidji Simo to board ahead of planned IPO

Nscale, the U.K.-based AI data center startup, has appointed Fidji Simo — the former OpenAI, Meta, and Instacart executive — to its board of directors. Simo joins existing board members Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Decker, and Nick Clegg ahead of Nscale’s anticipated IPO this fall.

Simo was formerly CEO of AGI deployment at OpenAI, effectively the lab’s No. 2 executive, before leaving the company in July citing health reasons; she still advises OpenAI on a part-time basis. Before OpenAI, she was chair and CEO of Instacart, where she led the company through its 2023 IPO, and she spent more than a decade at Meta, including as head of the Facebook app. She also sits on Shopify’s board.

Nscale founder and CEO Josh Payne said Simo understands what it takes to scale products used by billions of people and the demands that places on the underlying systems. “Fidji joins a board we’ve built deliberately, with the experience of scaling platforms to the largest in the world, and the independence, financial rigor and operating depth to which companies at this scale are held,” he said in a statement.

Nscale’s valuation has risen sharply since it was founded two years ago, driven by booming demand for AI infrastructure. The startup, which designs, builds, and operates AI data centers, is reportedly trying to raise up to $3.5 billion ahead of its planned IPO, Bloomberg reported last week, citing unnamed sources.

Why it matters

The board addition signals Nscale is assembling the governance bench investors expect from a company heading toward a public listing, at a moment when AI data center capacity is drawing intense capital.