European cloud provider Scaleway has acquired Qarnot, a specialist in high-performance computing (HPC) for engineering, simulation, and research workloads.The acquisition will enable Scaleway to add dedicated HPC capabilities to its cloud and AI platform. Terms of the deal were not shared.Scaleway notes that both companies are already based in Europe, with operations that are governed by European jurisdiction, which will provide their customers with immunity from extraterritorial laws.Qarnot is also bringing its expertise in waste heat recovery to Scaleway, with the company having an established, patented direct liquid-cooling technology. Up to 95 percent of the heat produced by HPC servers can be recovered and redirected to district heating networks, public facilities, and industrial sites, without affecting computing performance.The company has previously partnered with A2A in Brescia, Italy, to connect HPC infrastructure to the city’s district heating network and wellness and aquatic centers.“The next frontier isn't just more efficient compute. It's making sure the energy we can't avoid consuming creates value twice. Tomorrow's cloud platforms won't only be measured by the performance they deliver, but by how intelligently they use the energy they consume. Qarnot's expertise in waste heat recovery helps us move towards that future,” said Damien Lucas, CEO of Scaleway.“Joining Scaleway gives Qarnot the backing of a major European cloud provider and the Iliad Group,” added Clément Pellegrini, CTO of Qarnot. “It gives us the scale, investment capacity and European reach to bring our HPC expertise to more organisations while continuing to build on the principles that shaped Qarnot from the beginning.”Founded around 2010, Qarnot was previously known as a "digital boiler" startup, placing its compute hardware in locations where it could heat water in office or residential developments. Qarnot typically uses a model where servers are "distributed throughout the city" and "directly installed in buildings where waste heat is recovered (housing, offices, schools, logistics warehouses, etc.)." It opened a data center in Italy in June 2025.In 2020, the company raised around $6.5 million, adding to the $2.5m it had received from Data4 Group a few years earlier. It raised another €35 million ($37.5m) in early 2023 to expand its operations. In 2025, it raised more funding via the European Innovation Council.The company says that it currently has more than 50,000 computing cores spread over many sites in France and Europe, particularly in Finland.Scaleway launched a new cloud region in Milan, Italy, earlier this year. The company is one of the winners of the EU Commission's sovereign cloud tender, selected in April 2026.