Relativity Networks raises $6M in seed funding to advance its hollow core fiber vision

The seed round follows rapid growth for the company, which emerged from stealth in February with a $4.6 million pre-seed funding round.

“This funding – along with our continued partnership with Prysmian – allows us to accelerate our ability to meet the surging demand for infrastructure that can handle AI's massive computational requirements,” said Relativity Networks founder and CEO Jason Eichenholz.

A partnership focus

A key focus for Relativity is scale, achieved through partnerships with established fiber manufacturing partners that can effectively distribute Relativity’s HCF products.

In March, Relativity signed a long-term partnership agreement with Prysmian to bring its HFC cable to market at scale. The company has already delivered HFC to hyperscalers, who are eager to adopt the technology.

As a result of this partnership, Prysmian and Relativity Networks co-manufacture fiber and cable based on Relativity Networks' HCF technology, which was developed in collaboration with the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida.

Prysmian will manufacture Relativity Networks' HCF fiber at a dedicated facility in its production center in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

By engaging Prysmian's global manufacturing expertise, the companies will collaborate to transition the industry to hollow-core fiber technology. Relativity Networks will also provide connectors and hardware that ensure compatibility with existing fiber interfaces.

Frederick Persson, EVP Digital Solutions at Prysmian, said, “Hollow-core fiber will be essential for building the digital infrastructure needed for the AI economy to flourish.”

“Our work together plays an essential role in bringing hollow-core fiber to market at scale through our global co-manufacturing expertise,” he said.

HCF’s new approach

As AI adoption continues to surge, hollow-core fiber can accommodate the new demands data centers require.  

Hollow core fiber is an optical fiber that guides light through a hollow central core, unlike traditional fibers that use a solid glass or plastic core. This design offers several advantages, including low latency, high power transmission, and broader bandwidth, making it promising for various applications, such as data center interconnection. 

Because HFC light propagates in an air core, it transmits data nearly 50% faster than conventional silica glass fiber, enabling data to travel 1.5 times farther, reducing latency due to its higher bandwidth, and eliminating the impact on network performance. 

While traditional fiber optic cables typically limit data centers to within 60 kilometers (37 miles) of power providers — or to one another — due to latency constraints, Relativity Networks' HCF technology extends this range to 90 kilometers (56 miles).

Hollow core fiber momentum continues to grow.

In February 2024, Lyntia, Nokia, OFS | Furukawa Solutions, and Digital Realty (Interxion) completed a field trial to implement and demonstrate the potential of hollow core fiber technology.

Earlier in 2022, Microsoft revealed via a blog post that it had acquired Lumenisity Ltd., the UK-based developer of hollow-core fiber. 

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