Veir, a US developer of superconducting wires for electrical transmission, has closed a $75 million Series B funding round which saw it backed by investors including Microsoft.

Massachusetts-based Veir develops superconducting solutions for the data center sector. The company intends to use the funds from the oversubscribed round to accelerate the commercialization of its product, which it wants to deploy across data centers, utilities, and renewable energy developers.

The latest funding round means Veir has raised a total of $115 million. This year the company intends to demonstrate proof of concept by deploying its technology at a data center.

Citing the growth of AI and the popularity of advanced GPUs, Veir claims its solution will offer data center developers opportunities for efficiency, improved server latency, and simplified campus designs.

The startup intends to replace existing transmission cables with similar-sized black pipes that enclose superconducting tapes surrounded by liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -321F.

The company claims its solution can deliver up to ten times the power of traditional cables while operating at the same voltage and enabling a smaller electrical footprint.

“The pace at which data centers are being built and expanding and the urgency of being able to serve higher density and higher power loads is extremely high right now,” said Veir CEO Tim Heidel to Bloomberg. “And so there seems to be quite a bit of interest.”

Munich Re Ventures led the Series B round, which included participation from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Tyche Partners, Piva Capital, National Grid Partners, Dara Holdings, and SiteGround.

“At Microsoft, we seek to enable a decarbonized grid for our company, our customers, and the world. One of the biggest challenges for greater availability of clean energy is that improved infrastructure is needed to deliver carbon free electricity at scale,” said Brandon Middaugh, senior director of Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. “Veir’s technology can enhance the efficiency and sustainability of energy systems.”

Several other companies have explored similar technologies. In 2013, the German government invested in a project backed by cable manufacturing firm Nexans to build a 1km connection between two electrical substations in Essen. The project, which was in operation until 2021, cost an estimated €13.5 million ($14 million).

However, high-cost considerations related to maintaining low line temperatures, necessitating the installation of compression pumps at short increments, have proved a significant barrier to the technology's commercialization.

Veir and its proponents have argued that the company’s technology—which utilizes a device that allows nitrogen from the pipe to evaporate and re-cool the pipe—will replace the need for compressors, reduce costs, and allow the technology to be mass-produced.