Hovhannes Avoyan

Hovha'nnes Avoyan (Hovhannes Avoyan, Armenian: Հովհաննես Ավոյան), born 1965, is a serial entrepreneur, investor and scholar. He is the co-founder and CEO of PicsArt, a suite of online photo and video editing applications.[1] He also served as President of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises of Armenia (UITE) from its inception in 2000 until 2015.

Hovhannes Avoyan
Co-founder and CEO of PicsArt
Born23 March 1965
Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Alma materState Engineering University of Armenia (BS in Computer Science)
American University of Armenia (M PSIA)
OccupationCEO, PicsArt
Known forExecutive, serial entrepreneur, CEO and founder of Picsart

Early life and education

Hovhannes Avoyan was born in 1965 in Yerevan, Armenia. He graduated from the State Engineering University of Armenia with a B.S. degree in Computer Science in 1987 and received an Masters in Political Science and International Affairs (M PSIA) from the American University of Armenia in 1995.[2][3] He is also a 2005 graduate of Harvard Business School’s Bertelsmann Senior Executive's program.[2]

Career

In 1996, Avoyan founded CEDIT, a software development services company, which was acquired by mobile communications software developer Brience in 2000.

In 2005, Avoyan founded and served as CEO of Sourcio, a software development and system integration service provider acquired by software developer HelpSystems in 2016.[4][5]

In 2007, Avoyan founded and served as General Manager of Monitis Inc., which was acquired by TeamViewer/GFI Software) in 2011.[6][7]

In 2011, with his friend Artavazd Mehrabyan, Avoayan founded PicsArt, a social photo and video editing platform, and became the company's CEO.[1] PicsArt employs more than 600 people and is headquartered in San Francisco.[8] PicsArt's software reportedly has more than 150 million monthly active users, and has been downloaded 1 billion times as of September 2020.[9]

Accolades

In 2016, Avoyan received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the American University of Armenia.[10] In 2019, The Armenian Trade Network named Avoyan as the recipient of its Global Achievement Award.[11]

Philanthropy

Avoyan supports AI development in Armenia by establishing schools and best practices in the country to help its data scientists compete globally.[12]

Artificial intelligence

Hovhannes is an author and speaker on artificial intelligence and advocates the establishment of machine learning and data science schools in Armenia.[13][14]

References
  1. "Picsart Gold – Super Advanced Photo Editor App". Newsgaze. 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  2. "Hovhannes Avoyan Forbes Councils". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  3. "Hovhannes Avoyan (M PSIA '95) Appointed AUAC Trustee". AUA Newsroom. 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  4. "AUA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD" (PDF). American University of Armenia. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  5. "Eye on the i World: HelpSystems Sees IBM i Vendor Consolidation as Healthy for the Market". MC Press Online. 2016-11-06. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  6. "Hovhannes Avoyan". VentureBeat.
  7. "Outsourcing Journal". Outsourcing Journal. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  8. "PicsArt To Acquire Video Effects Startup D'efekt". Crunchbase. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  9. "Becoming Creative: PicsArt helps kickstart storytelling". Financial Express. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  10. "Hovhannes Avoyan (MPSIA '95) Receives AUA Distinguished Alumnus 2016 Award". AUA Newsroom. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  11. "2019 ATN Global Armenian Business Awards Recipients Announced". Asbarez. 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  12. "PicsArt CEO: Armenia lacks AI experts and school". Itel.am. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  13. "AUA and PicsArt Announce Launch of AI Lab". Asbarez. 2019-12-24. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  14. "Machine Learning Is Creating A Demand For New Skills". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
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