Stuttgart, Germany – Bosch Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of the Bosch Group, participates in the $22 million Series B extension from Point2. This round positions Point2 as a potential disruptor for network interconnect in the automotive market. Shattering the “copper or optics” paradigm for high-speed cable interconnect, E-Tube breaks the barriers of copper and optical cabling and is poised to become the next-generation multi-terabit interconnect technology for datacenter applications and the automotive sector.
The new E-Tube platform uses RF data transmission via a plastic dielectric waveguide to enable multi-terabit active cables. According to Point2, this results in 80% lower weight, 50% less bulk compared with copper cables, and 50% lower power consumption and costs compared with optical cables. This profile gives the E-Tube platform the potential to replace both.
A potential disruption for the automotive connectivity market
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in automotive are adopting a network-centric architecture to connect hundreds of sensors, driving the need for low-power, low-latency, lightweight, and flexible interconnect for future automotive applications.
"We are thrilled to have support from Bosch Ventures and Molex as we advance our mission to revolutionize interconnect technology in AI/ML data centers and next-generation automotive applications," said Sean Park, Point2's founder and CEO. "Our investment from Bosch Ventures underlines the importance and high potential of Point2’s low-power, low-latency, scalable interconnect technologies in the expansive automotive sector, and further amplifying our impact connecting AI workloads for the growing data center market.”
“Moving forward, interconnect provides critical infrastructure for high-performance and energy-efficient data centers and networked automotive applications," said Ingo Ramesohl, Managing Director of Bosch Ventures. "Point2’s unique interconnect SoC solutions deliver the high-bandwidth interconnect required in the data center and automotive sector while reducing energy consumption and minimizing carbon footprint. The company and its technologies have a high potential to become a disruptor in network interconnect in both markets.”
Strong partnerships
Besides Bosch Ventures, strategic investor Molex is also joining the round, and plans to support the future commercialization of the E-Tube technology. Existing investors are participating and make up the rest of the oversubscribed round.
The boost in funding comes at a time when the use of AI in data centers is skyrocketing. Generative AI and large language models are increasing the demand for computing resources and network interconnect capacity in next-generation hyperscale data centers, where the integration of Point2 interconnect chips is set to revolutionize connectivity.
In the past, Point2 has already gained recognition for its ultra-low-power, low-latency, cloud-optimized mixed-signal SoCs, which are purpose-built for active electrical cables (AECs). AECs built with Point2’s Cloud Connect Engines require significantly less power and space than other AEC solutions.
