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27 Nov 2025
Pre-seed investment round to fund expansion of Neuchâtel laboratory.
SPhotonix, the US-headquartered startup company looking to commercialize “5D” or “Superman” ultra-stable optical data storage technology originally developed at the University of Southampton in the UK, says it has raised $4.5 million in a pre-seed funding round.
Led by deep-tech investor Creator Fund and XTX Ventures, the round also attracted angel investor participation from what the Newark, Delaware, firm described as “high-profile leaders of private and public companies”.
The cash will be used to help expand the SPhotonix research laboratory recently established at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Neuchâtel.
“[The] successful pre-seed round reflects significant breakthroughs in [our] FemtoEtch laser nanostructuring technology that resolve challenges in deploying data center storage and advanced optics products,” announced the company.
Forever memory
After emerging from stealth mode in late 2024, SPhotonix made an appearance at SPIE Photonics West in early 2025, highlighting the potential for its optical material and component innovations in data storage and beyond.
Those included fused silica waveplates, high-performance birefringent prisms for microscopy, and a polarization beam smoother for directed energy weapons and laser fusion applications.
The technology has been developed by SPhotonix chief scientific officer Peter Kazansky, a professor in optoelectronics at the University of Southampton, over the past 20 years, with the “Superman” memory crystal material said to be capable of preserving data for a seemingly unlimited time.
Example applications have included storing the entire human genome, while back in 2018 material containing what was described as "critical planetary backup" data was sent into orbit around the Sun after launching from a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Kazansky’s son Ilya, who is now SPhotonix CEO, said in a company release announcing the new funding: “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.”
The company also told optics.org: “We are planning to double the lab team in Neuchâtel in the next 12 months, recruiting top talent for programming, optics and materials, laser matter, software engineering, and optical imaging.
“We will be undertaking two further setups early in 2026, later in 2027 [and] our expansion will include a new building allowing us to deliver on R&D and production.”
New storage paradigms
The CEO added that the company’s proprietary “FemtoEtch” technology has already found applications for fused silica optics, including for microscopy, high-power lasers, aerospace, and semiconductor manufacturing.
He sees a major market opportunity emerging in data storage, saying that global data storage capacity was becoming “scarce and heavily unsustainable” after a recent surge in data generation for cloud computing.
“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 centers, picking up on the breakthroughs we’ve recently had with writable and rewritable forms,” added Ilya Kazansky.
“Furthermore, we can now capture and capitalise on the interest we’ve had to date from hyperscalers and corporate partners in [those] ecosystems, to create the right partnerships for progression, being announced soon. It’s a really exciting moment in our history.”
Alexandra Ntemourtsidou, general partner at Creator Fund, commented: "We are delighted to partner with SPhotonix as they commercialize 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.”
Gabriele Papievyte, who heads up XTX Ventures, added: “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.”
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