Relativity Networks has secured $22 million in SAFE note funding to advance its hollow-core fiber technology, which promises faster data transmission. The funding round was led by Rhapsody Venture Partners, Bell Ventures Inc., and Faster Than Glass LLC, among others. The company also received a $40 million follow-on order from a major hyperscaler, though the company did not disclose its name. This funding aims to bring faster fiber to data centers, addressing growing latency concerns as compute projects scale.
Hollow-core fiber, a less commonly used technology, allows data to travel 30% faster than traditional fiber by transmitting light through a vacuum chamber instead of fiber-optic glass. CEO Jason Eisenholz explained that conventional fiber takes about five microseconds to transmit a signal over one kilometer, while hollow-core fiber reduces this to three and a half microseconds. This improvement could allow data centers to span larger distances before latency becomes a problem, offering a potential solution to spatial constraints in data center expansion.
Eisenholz highlighted the increasing need for multi-campus data center deployments, where pre-existing facilities are integrated into a single synchronized unit. "The largest systems are distributing the compute across multiple campuses to reach the power that exists," he said. "They’re moving to where the warm shell is, but they still need to operate as one synchronized machine." This shift could redefine how data centers are designed and operated as AI and compute demands continue to grow.
Source: techcrunch
