Thrive Backs Startup Building Optical Data Center Tech

Mesh Optical Technologies secured $50 million in a funding round led by Thrive Capital to advance its high-speed optical data center hardware. The startup, founded by SpaceX alum Travis Brashears, specializes in optical interconnects designed to accelerate data transfer within data centers. Brashears confirmed plans to scale U.S.-based manufacturing, addressing growing demand for faster, energy-efficient data infrastructure. The technology aims to replace traditional electrical interconnects, reducing latency and power consumption in AI and cloud computing workloads. This investment reflects rising industry focus on optical solutions as data center bandwidth requirements surge amid AI and quantum computing advancements.