Volta Infrastructure Holdings, a London-based artificial intelligence start-up founded in January 2026, has secured a $10 billion strategic partnership with Anthropic, the AI group behind the Claude chatbot. The company, which develops, finances, builds, and operates AI data centres—referred to internally as "AI factories"—has quickly risen to a valuation of approximately $2.4 billion within six to eight months of its founding.

Volta was established by Ricard Boada Rafart, 33, a former senior vice-president at Brookfield Asset Management, where he previously worked on infrastructure deals including a $5 billion AI data centre partnership. The company now employs around 100 staff across London, New York, and Silicon Valley. Its first announced project is an AI data centre in Norway, developed in collaboration with Bitdeer, a cryptocurrency group now involved in data centre operations. This facility will be powered by Nvidia chips and forms part of the broader $10 billion deal with Anthropic.

The company has attracted significant investment from a range of backers including Nvidia, which has invested about $300 million, venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Altimeter Capital, as well as Michael Dell’s family office. Additionally, the Spanish infrastructure firm Azora has committed $5 billion to an AI infrastructure financing programme designed to support Volta’s development of data centres. This capital infusion aims to address one of the main bottlenecks in AI infrastructure: access to affordable capital needed for large-scale data centre projects.

While Volta’s ambitions in the UK remain unclear—largely due to the high electricity costs that have deterred some AI data centre investments—its operations are positioned primarily in Norway, Europe, and North America. Industry observers note the company filed minimal initial share capital and may not release its first formal accounts until late 2027. Its rapid valuation, roughly two-fifths that of established infrastructure firm Balfour Beatty, underscores a broader surge of investment flowing into London-based AI ventures.

In parallel, other UK AI start-ups are also seeing significant growth. For example, Olix, founded two years ago by James Dacombe, recently raised $312 million and is valued at $3.3 billion. Olix is developing faster microchips to reduce AI computing costs and employs over 140 staff worldwide. Both Volta and Olix benefit from the UK’s growing AI ecosystem, with technology clusters emerging in locations like King’s Cross due to proximity to institutions such as Google DeepMind and University College London.

The agreements involving Volta and Anthropic highlight the increasing importance of integrated infrastructure solutions—including land, power, hardware, and financing—in supporting the rapid expansion of AI workloads globally. While some projects face challenges related to energy costs and scaling, these high-value partnerships signal a competitive global race to establish advanced AI data centre capacity.