Nvidia-backed Nscale omits its largest client ByteDance from IPO documents
Nvidia-backed AI cloud firm Nscale omitted ByteDance—its largest client accounting for 73% of its $33 million 2025 revenue—from the main text of its 192-page S-1 IPO prospectus. The relationship is structured through a Singapore subsidiary called Spring, which committed to 2,304 Nvidia B200 chips hosted in a former crypto mining data center in Norway. The arrangement lets ByteDance access Nvidia chips it cannot legally buy in China. Nscale expects revenue concentration to fall below 20% as Microsoft and Anthropic contracts grow.
Nscale, the Nvidia-backed AI cloud provider, has left its single most important customer out of the core documents for its planned US stock market listing, according to the Financial Times. The company, Bytedance, generated 73 percent of Nscale's $33 million in 2025 revenue, yet it goes unnamed anywhere in the 192-page S-1 prospectus. The only reference is tucked into an appendix, which names a Singapore-based subsidiary called Spring.
A Deal Built Around Norwegian Data Center Capacity
The commercial relationship centers on an agreement struck in May 2025, when Spring committed to using 2,304 Nvidia B200 chips hosted in Glomfjord, Norway. That contract served as the foundation for a $105 million loan from Macquarie, which — combined with $35 million in equity financing — covered the cost of the AI hardware.
The Norwegian site has an unusual history: it previously operated as a cryptocurrency mining data center and was slated for conversion into a facility dedicated to AI workloads.
Why the Arrangement Raises Questions
The structure of the deal allows Bytedance to access Nvidia chips that it cannot legally purchase in China, taking advantage of a gap in US export controls. While the arrangement falls within the rules, it nonetheless carries legal and reputational exposure — a likely reason the customer relationship was kept out of the spotlight in the main prospectus text.
Revenue Concentration Expected to Ease
Nscale itself anticipates that its dependence on this customer will fade. The company projects that its largest client's share of revenue will fall below 20 percent this year and continue declining, as major contracts with Microsoft and Anthropic scale up and diversify its income base.
The situation underscores how young AI infrastructure firms can face heavy concentration risk early on — and how disclosure choices in IPO filings can shape investor perception. How regulators and prospective shareholders respond to the customer's omission may become a point to watch as the listing progresses.
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