Aravind Venugopalan

Aravind Venugopalan is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Singular Photonics, the Edinburgh-based fabless semiconductor company pioneering SPAD (Single-Photon Avalanche Diode) sensor technology for 4D imaging. He holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh's School of Engineering and was previously a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow, a programme designed to help researchers commercialise deep-tech innovations. His doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on CMOS-compatible SPAD sensor design, laying the technical foundation for Singular Photonics' product portfolio.

As CTO, Venugopalan leads the engineering team responsible for developing Singular Photonics' sensor architectures — including the Andarta and Sirona product families — which integrate on-chip computation directly into SPAD arrays, enabling real-time photon timing, autocorrelation, and 4D image reconstruction without the need for external processing hardware. This approach, which he has described as a new paradigm in digital imaging, is protected by multiple patents and builds on research conducted in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh's globally recognised CMOS Sensors and Systems Group led by Professor Robert Henderson.

Singular Photonics was founded in February 2024 and has rapidly advanced from laboratory spinout to revenue-generating company within its first year, securing partnerships with instrumentation companies globally and attracting investment from the Scottish Venture Fund, Cambridge Angels, and Old College Capital. The company is a member of Silicon Catalyst UK and the UK government's Chipstart UK programme, and has exhibited at SPIE Photonics West and the European Machine Vision Association, positioning Singular Photonics as a rising name in the global photonics and semiconductor ecosystem.