Hollow-Core Fiber Company Relativity Receives $6.1 Million in Seed Financing

Recently, Relativity Networks announced the completion of a seed round financing of $6.1 million, with investors including Prysmian, GOVO Venture Partners, and new and existing investors who have participated in the company’s pre Series round. This financing brings the total financing amount of Relativity Networks to $10.7 million, further verifying its ability to scale the production of Hollow Core Fiber (HCF). This technology is being used by data center operators to address the power demand challenges brought about by the AI market explosion.

Relativity Networks ended its stealth mode in February of this year and completed a $4.6 million pre Series funding round. Jason Eichenholz, the founder and CEO of the company, stated, “This round of financing and our ongoing partnership with Prysmian will accelerate our infrastructure development capabilities to meet the enormous computing power demands of AI. “

Collaboration promotes scalability

The core strategy of Relativity Networks is to achieve scalability through partnerships with mature fiber manufacturing partners. In March of this year, the company signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Prysmian, a leading global cable manufacturer, to jointly promote the large-scale market application of HCF cables. Currently, Relativity Networks has delivered HCF products to ultra large scale data center operators eager to adopt this technology.

According to the agreement, both parties will jointly produce optical fibers and cables based on HCF technology developed in collaboration between Relativity Networks and the School of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida in the United States. Prysmian will produce Relativity Networks’ HCF fiber in a dedicated facility at its Eindhoven production site in the Netherlands.

Frederick Persson, Executive Vice President of Prysmian Digital Solutions, said, “Hollow fiber optics are crucial for building the digital infrastructure needed for the AI economy. Through our global joint manufacturing expertise, our collaboration will play a key role in the large-scale application of hollow fiber optics. Relativity Networks will also provide connectors and hardware that ensure compatibility with traditional fiber optic interfaces.

Technical advantages of hollow core optical fiber

With the surge of AI applications, hollow fiber can meet the new demands of data centers. Unlike traditional optical fibers that use solid glass or plastic cores, hollow core optical fibers transmit optical signals through hollow cores, which have advantages such as low latency, high power transmission, and wider bandwidth. They are particularly suitable for scenarios such as data center interconnection.

Due to the propagation of light in the air core, the data transmission speed of HCF is nearly 50% faster than traditional quartz glass fiber, the transmission distance is extended by 1.5 times, the higher bandwidth reduces latency, and eliminates the impact on network performance. Traditional fiber optic cables typically limit the distance between data centers and power providers or other data centers to 60 kilometers (37 miles) due to latency limitations, while Relativity Networks’ HCF technology can extend this range to 90 kilometers (56 miles).

Industry application prospects

Hollow fiber technology is receiving increasing attention. In February 2024, Lyntia、 Nokia, OFS | Furukawa Solutions, and Digital Realty (Interxion) have completed a field trial to validate the potential of hollow fiber technology. In 2022, Microsoft announced through a blog post that it would acquire Lumensity Ltd., a British developer of hollow fiber optic cables.

Relativity Networks stated that the new funding will help it assist hyperscale data center operators in responding to the changing demands of the AI driven economy. Through collaboration with partners such as Prysmian, the company is driving the transformation of the fiber optic industry towards hollow fiber technology, providing critical support for future digital infrastructure construction.