Relativity Networks has raised $4.6 million in pre-seed funding as part of plans to address the power requirements of data centers using advanced fiber optic technologies.
The company, founded by Jason Eichenholz, specializes in providing fiber, including hollow-core fiber, for its clients.
The funding was provided by a group of private investors. Eichenholz has previously invested his own capital into the business.
To date, the company said it has secured multimillion-dollar contracts and has deployed its technology in several US field installations.
It is pushing the benefits of hollow-core fiber (HCF), which it believes could provide the industry with superior connectivity compared to traditional fiber cabling.
HCF features an air-filled center channel that is surrounded by a ring of glass tubes, akin to a honeycomb pattern. The design allows for higher capacity with minimized chromatic dispersion.
Relativity notes that its HCF cable is already being used to expand the number of data centers for cloud-computing hyperscalers, and claims that the technology can transmit data nearly 50 percent faster than conventional glass fiber.
"Currently, new data centers can't be built fast enough to satisfy the rapidly expanding AI-driven economy, and the lack of available power is an existential threat to fueling that growth,'' said Jason Eichenholz, Relativity Networks' founder and CEO.
"By moving data faster with lower latency at nearly the speed of light, we are providing the industry new geographic optionality to address the energy-intensive data needs of today's AI-driven digital economy."
Relativity stated in its seed funding announcement this week that traditional fiber optic cables typically limit data centers to within 60 kilometers (37 miles) of each other due to latency constraints. However, the company claims that its HCF technology can extend this to 90 kilometers (56 miles).
"We're well positioned to redefine the optical network of the future," Eichenholz added.
Commercialization
The company is working with the University of Central Florida (UCF) to develop the technology. Relativity said it is "commercializing patent-pending HCF technology originally developed by co-founder Professor Rodrigo Amezcua at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida."
"Hollow core fiber represents the next revolution in optical networking, offering unprecedented speeds and lower latency that traditional fiber simply cannot match. This breakthrough demonstrates a decade of dedicated research by our team," said Dr. Winston Schoenfeld, vice president for research and innovation at the University of Central Florida. "
HCF isn't a new technology, but interest in this area has grown vastly in recent years. In 2022, Microsoft acquired UK-based Lumenisity Limited, a manufacturer of HCF solutions.
Lumenisity was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton to commercialize its HCF technologies. The company has raised £12.5 million ($15.5m). euNetworks was a customer, while BT had conducted trials with the fiber firm. It recently opened a 40,000 sq ft (3,716 sqm) HCF manufacturing facility in Romsey, UK.
