A high-speed and energy-efficient oxide-confined 850 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) for optical interconnects is presented. A record-high modulation bandwidth of 30 GHz is reached for a 3.5 mu m oxide aperture VCSEL, with 25 GHz bandwidth already at a bias current of 1.8 mA. The high bandwidth at low currents enables energy-efficient transmission with a dissipated heat energy in the VCSEL of <100 fJ/bit at 25, 40 and 50 Gbit/s.