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12 Feb 2025
Florida's Relativity Networks says it has raised $4.6M in 'pre-seed' funding as it deploys CREOL-developed fibers.
Relativity Networks, an Orlando-based startup focused on hollow-core fibers (HCF) developed at the nearby College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida (CREOL), says it has raised $4.6 million in “pre-seed” funding.
Co-founded by CREOL professor Rodrigo Amezcua and former Luminar CTO Jason Eichenholz, the company believes that its advanced optical fibers can improve data connections between data centers.
“Hollow-core fiber moves data faster with lower latency - less delay - than conventional fiber,” explains the firm. “That enables data to travel 1.5 times farther without impacting the latency that can throw intricate multi-location data operations and applications out of sync.”
Those are the same technological advantages that prompted Microsoft to acquire the University of Southampton's HCF-making spin-out Lumenisity back in December 2022.
The inner structure of HCF is also said to allow higher security and intrusion detection, lower cost, increased bandwidth, and enhanced network quality by eliminating the nonlinear optical effects found in conventional fiber.
Geographic flexibility
While the latency constraint with standard fiber-optic cables typically limits data centers to within 60 kilometers of each other, the Relativity Networks fibers extend that figure to 90 kilometers.
“This increased geographic flexibility allows organizations to strategically position their data centers closer to existing and emerging power sources,” states the firm.
With CEO Eichenholz making the initial investment into Relativity Networks, the latest backing is said to have been provided by a group of unspecified private investors. The firm’s solitary filing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), dating from February 2024, indicated that $500,000 out of an intended $5.5 million had been raised at that point.
Eichenholz, a CREOL graduate who worked at Newport Corporation and Ocean Optics prior to spending more than a decade at Luminar, said in a company release:
“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.
“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.”
Anti-resonant HCF
Amezcua, who researched photonic crystal fibers at Southampton and Bath universities in the UK before moving to CREOL, has been working on anti-resonant HCF designs said to provide unmatched speed and minimal power loss.
One recent paper from his research group, a collaboration with laser firm Coherent, describes record-breaking power output from a 104.5 meter-long singlemode HCF with a transmission efficiency of 95 per cent and near-diffraction-limited output beam quality.
Winston Schoenfeld, the VP of Research and Innovation at the University of Central Florida, said of the startup’s patent-pending technology:
“HCF 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.
“The Relativity Networks team has a proven track record in developing and commercializing innovative technology solutions, and we have great confidence that they are the best partner to scale such an operation.”
The company adds that it has already secured “multi-million dollar” contracts, and deployed its technology in several field installations in the US.
“Relativity Networks' business model is based on bringing in the right partners to scale to high volume production rapidly, ensuring there will be enough supply to support the entire industry,” stated the firm, with Eichenholz adding: “We're well positioned to redefine the optical network of the future.”
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