Hyperplume secures $12.5M to further its data center-focused interconnect technology development

Hyperlume has wrapped a $12.5 million seed round of funding to commercialize its high-bandwidth, low-latency, and low-power interconnects for AI data centers and high-performance computing systems.

The oversubscribed round, led by BDC's Deep Tech Venture Fund and ArcTern Ventures and with participation from MUUS Climate Partners, SOSV, and Intel Capital, includes a strategic investment from LG Technology Ventures. 

Founded in 2022 by Mohsen Asad and Hossein Fariborzi to develop technology that addresses connectivity bottlenecks in accelerated computing and AI data centers, Hyperlume's technology uses specialized, ultra-fast microLEDs and ultra-low-power circuitry to achieve what it claims are significant performance, cost, and energy-efficiency gains relative to traditional copper interconnects. 

With this funding, the company plans to accelerate the development of optical interconnect technologies and expand its product, engineering, and R&D teams.

Additionally, the company will enhance its partnerships with major hyperscalers, chip manufacturers, and AI infrastructure providers and prepare steps to produce its optical technology to meet industry demand for 800G and 1.6T interconnects.

Overcoming bottlenecks

As AI models exceed 1 trillion parameters and high-performance computing clusters surpass 100,000 GPUs, today's interconnect technology is becoming a critical bottleneck to computing performance.

Future computing models will require a new level of connectivity—higher bandwidth, lower latency, and step-change improvements in energy efficiency.

"As the demand for AI grows, so do its energy requirements, placing a significant burden on traditional copper interconnects," said Srini Ananth, Managing Director at Intel Capital. "Hyperlume's technology effectively tackles the bottlenecks hindering optimal performance in AI and data centers, representing a significant step forward for the semiconductor industry as it supports the demands of an AI-driven future."

Addressing energy consumption

While the company is still in its early stages of development, Hyperplume’s focus on reducing energy consumption will resonate with major hyperscaler and data center operators.

According to a 2024 International Energy Agency (IEA) report, data centers could double their energy usage by 2026.

The agency forecasts that data centers’ total electricity consumption could reach more than 1,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2026.

Within data centers, IEA said that computing power and cooling were the two most energy-intensive processes within data centers. 

"The carbon emissions from data centers are projected to more than double by 2030, underscoring the urgent need to invest in technologies that reduce energy consumption,” said Murray McCaig, Managing Partner at ArcTern Ventures. “Hyperlume's ultra-low-power microLED interconnect technology not only significantly reduces energy usage in networking but also delivers exceptional high-bandwidth performance."

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