Newark, Delaware,  XX, January, 2026: SPhotonix, the pioneers of 5D Memory Crystal technology, announces the appointment of Masaaki Sakakura, a world leading femtosecond photonics expert. Masaaki joins from Microsoft’s Project Silica. At the same time, Konstantinas Zakalskis, takes on the Head of Growth role for Advanced Optics as the deep tech start-up begins its rapid scaling, following a successful pre-seed round which saw the company raise $4.5 million. 

Taking up the new position of Principal Scientist, Masaaki is an internationally recognized expert in ultrafast light–matter interaction, femtosecond laser processing, and photonic micro and nanostructuring.  During his career to date, he has played a central role in advancing optical glass storage technologies for long-term archival data at the University of Southampton and Microsoft Research Cambridge, ‘Project Silica’. Masaaki’s work includes several breakthrough inventions in data writing that overcame fundamental physical barriers in 5D glass storage, enabling major progress in both scientific understanding and practical implementation.

Konstantinas Zakalskis has over 15 years of experience in optical device fabrication and joins from QS Lasers where he was Chief Sales Officer, responsible for delivering innovative solutions, building long-term partnerships and leading the company’s ambitious growth plans. Working at the forefront in the advanced optics market, Konstantinas brings a unique understanding of current and future requirements for optical device fabrication across traditional and emerging sectors such as space tech.

Masaaki Sakakura, Principal Scientist, SPhotonix: “Beyond data storage, the core technologies of SPhotonix have enormous potential in other fields. I’m excited to be part of the team as we look to grow our proposition, build solutions that help meet global challenges and continue to make new breakthroughs in data storage and optic solutions that are world-leading, solution driven and pioneering.”

Konstantinas Zakalskis, Head of Growth, SPhotonix: “SPhotonics has started to revolutionize optic device fabrication. The potential for our advanced optics products and the technology continues to build and I look forward to working together with the lab team and our partners to show organisations how to use their optics differently to increase precision and performance.” 

Commenting on these appointments, Ilya Kazansky, CEO, SPhotonix, said: “Since securing our funding at the end of last year, SPhotonix has been able to execute its strategic growth plan. This includes making significant hires which will enable us to capitalise on the technology developments we continue to make and branch into new commercial avenues. We are thrilled to add the experience and expertise of Masaaki and Konstantina’s to our team as we enter this exciting new chapter for 5D memory crystal and data storage solutions and continue to push the possibilities of our technology.” 

SPhotonix, the team behind the world’s first 5D optical crystal capable of storing the human genome and the entire Wikipedia, recently closed an oversubscribed $4.5M pre-seed round led by Creator Fund and XTX Ventures. This raise marks the accumulation of two decades of research into 5D optical memory, just as global data generation is skyrocketing and current storage technologies are hitting physical and environmental limits. 

With demand for cold and archival storage projected to exceed $400bn by 2030, SPhotonix’s FemtoEtch™ nanostructuring platform offers a scalable, durable, ultra-low-energy alternative that can preserve data for billions of years.