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25 Mar 2025
Long-term deal with Italian cable giant will see Florida startup's advanced fiber produced at facility in Eindhoven.
Relativity Networks, the hollow-core fiber (HCF) startup that recently spun out of research at the University of Central Florida, says it has struck a deal with the major cable manufacturer Prysmian to scale up production of the material at a facility in The Netherlands.
The partnership is focused on connections between data centers, where Relativity believes that its HCF technology will improve latency and data throughput.
“This collaboration will see 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,” announced the two firms.
“Leveraging Prysmian's global manufacturing expertise, the companies will work together to seamlessly transition the industry to hollow-core fiber technology, meeting the growing demands of data centers worldwide.
“In addition, Relativity Networks will provide connectors and hardware that ensure compatibility with existing fiber-optic interfaces.”
Dedicated Eindhoven facility
Prysmian has been manufacturing fiber-optic cables for more than 30 years, with the technology originally developed at Philips and Pirelli. The firm, which has a huge global footprint and boasts annual sales of around €15 billion, also makes power cables and copper connections.
It points out that the enormous demands for electric power needed to handle AI-focused computing has created a potential bottleneck in the construction of new data centers.
“Relativity Networks’ patent-pending HCF technology, together with Prysmian’s best-in-class fiber optic cables, is addressing that problem by enabling cloud-computing hyperscalers to locate data centers closer to the sources of power - whether conventional electric utilities or green energy providers,” announced the two firms.
Relativity, which emerged from stealth mode last month with a “pre-seed” funding round worth $4.6 million, was co-founded by CREOL professor Rodrigo Amezcua and former Luminar CTO Jason Eichenholz.
“This deal is a big breakthrough for the entire industry [that] has been demanding HCF cables,” said Eichenholz. “It will enable us to meet a seemingly insatiable demand by hyperscalers for hollow-core fiber technology.
“With Prysmian, a recognized leader in communications and energy cable systems, we will better address the telecommunications and data center markets and provide the builders of AI-driven data centers the capabilities they've been clamoring for.
“The AI economy requires hollow-core fiber. This partnership enables our companies, together, to be the leading global provider of this vital technology.”
The two companies say that Relativity’s novel HCF fiber will be manufactured at a dedicated facility located in Prysmian's production center in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
“This strategic production site will enable the companies to meet the growing global demand for innovative optical fiber solutions, ensuring that data centers and AI applications benefit from cutting-edge fiber-optic technology,” they announced.
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