SPhotonix Brings 5D Optical Storage to Space Data Centres

SPhotonix has secured US$4.5m in pre seed investment to advance its 5D optical memory technology, positioning the start-up for growth in both terrestrial and space based data centre markets. 

The round was led by Creator Fund and XTX Ventures, with several industry leaders joining as angel investors. The raise comes just over a year after SPhotonix CSO Prof Peter Kazansky demonstrated how a 5D Memory Crystal could preserve the human genome and the entire Wikipedia in fused silica for billions of years.

Scaling optical innovation

The investment will support expansion of the company’s photonics and engineering teams as demand rises for its two early applications in advanced optics and long-term data storage.

SPhotonix CEO Ilya Kazansky says: “We've had significant interest in our pre-seed round and we are delighted to partner with Creator Fund and XTX Ventures and others, as we continue our path bridging innovation with commercial success. 

“We are rapidly scaling to address growing opportunities, we recently launched our Swiss based R&D lab, which is now fully operational with a growing team of world leading experts. 

“All of our investors, were curated to align with our vision and will support executing our mission of making data storage scalable, durable and cost-efficient for the new generations growing data storage needs

"Our proprietary FemtoEtch technology has already found applications for fused silica optics, in industries including microscopy, high power laser (HPL), aerospace, semiconductor manufacturing. 

“Looking at our data storage use cases, in particular as part of current and future cloud solutions for cold and archival storage, the market opportunity is significant. With a 133% increase in data generation in the past four years, global data storage capacity is becoming scarce and heavily unsustainable. 

“The cold data storage market is set to top over US$400bn by 2030, according to Grand View Research, with our optical data storage solutions leading on new, proven technology to address this enormous need."

Towards earth and space-borne data centres

Ilya added that the new funding will accelerate the final technology readiness steps required to deploy 5D optical memory into both terrestrial facilities and emerging space infrastructure. 

He says: "The funding unlocks our ability to recruit world-leading specialists, to innovate through the final TRL stages needed to bring 5D optical to earth and space-borne data centres, picking up on the breakthroughs we've recently had with writable and rewritable forms. 

“Furthermore, we can now capture and capitalise on the interest we've had to date from hyper scalers and corporate partners in the ecosystems, to create the right partnerships for progression, being announced soon. It's a really exciting moment in our history."

Investor confidence in next-generation storage

Alexandra Ntemourtsidou, General Partner at Creator Fund, highlighted the urgency for new storage models as data volumes surge. Alexandra says: "We are delighted to partner with SPhotonix as they commercialise two decades of research into optics for long-term data storage. 

“Today's data storage needs are putting a huge strain on legacy technologies. Industry must now look towards new storage paradigms. Peter and Ilya bring a rare combination of deep technical rigour and commercial focus; we are thrilled to back them on their mission to bring 5D optical memory technology to market."

Creator Fund backs frontier science ventures emerging from leading European universities, while XTX Ventures, an arm of XTX Markets, supports early-stage deep tech teams.

Gabriele Papievyte, Head of XTX Ventures, says: "At XTX Ventures, we are committed to supporting leading academic and deep-tech teams as they move from lab to market. 

“We were deeply impressed by SPhotonix's dedication to developing their unique technology for data storage and advanced optics, and we are excited to help them on their journey."

A breakthrough year for 5D optical memory

Over the past year, SPhotonix has gained growing recognition for its photonics and data storage breakthroughs. Its technology appeared in Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning and has been used to create precision test targets for global R&D labs.

The company’s 5D optical laser fusion process, developed by Prof Peter Kazansky over two decades, has now transitioned from a validated research concept into full commercialisation, strengthening its relevance for future data centre architectures on earth and in orbit.