SPhotonix appoints Alex Avramov as Chief Operating Officer

SPhotonix has appointed Alex Avramov as Chief Operating Officer, adding a two-time exited founder to its senior team.

Avramov joins the optical data storage business as it expands operations and looks to scale commercial activity. He will focus on operational execution, business development and scaling the business.

He brings more than two decades of entrepreneurial and operational experience, including building and expanding international businesses and delivering two exits in the education technology sector.

In 2003, Avramov founded the British Higher School of Art & Design and the Universal University holding company, which includes six faculties. He exited the business in 2017.

He later launched Escola Britânica de Artes Criativas & Tecnologia, known as EBAC, in Latin America. Before its acquisition by Constructor Group earlier this year, the business had grown into one of Brazil's larger upskilling and reskilling brands, attracted USD $14 million in venture capital and built a community of 2.5 million members.

SPhotonix is developing 5D optical data storage technology for long-term data storage. Demand for cold storage is rising as AI drives higher levels of data generation.

The appointment comes as SPhotonix continues its research and development work and seeks additional investment. After completing a pre-seed fundraising round in 2025, the company began a second capital raise and is developing commercial activity in multiple markets.

Commenting on the appointment, Ilya Kazansky, Chief Executive Officer of SPhotonix, said: "I'm really delighted that Alex has joined our team here at SPhotonix. His wealth of experience as an entrepreneur, his track record of raising investment and, in particular, his ability to operate and scale international businesses on a fast-growth trajectory will bring significant value to SPhotonix.

"We are in an important phase as we expand our R&D capacity, working towards establishing a new approach to long-term data storage. The explosive growth in AI and resulting data generation are creating an urgent need for cold storage technologies with better density, durability and economics. We are ambitious and focused on transforming the cold data storage and data tiering markets."

Avramov described the role as an opportunity to address a storage problem linked to rising global data volumes.

He said: "Joining SPhotonix at a time when the data storage industry is facing a multitude of challenges is an irresistible opportunity. The amount of data generated worldwide is growing exponentially, and hyperscalers and data centres are facing increasing pressure to store that data more efficiently and economically. SPhotonix is developing a different approach through 5D optical data storage that meets those needs.

"I'm excited to bring my experience of building and scaling international businesses to SPhotonix as we continue to commercialise our unique technology and address one of the most important infrastructure challenges created by the AI era."