Hovha'nnes Avoyan (Hovhannes Avoyan, Armenian: Հովհաննես Ավոյան; born March 23, 1965), is an Armenian-American 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 is a member of the American University of Armenia Corporation Board of Trustees.[2]
Hovhannes Avoyan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 March 1965 |
| Alma mater | State Engineering University of Armenia (BS in Computer Science) American University of Armenia (M PSIA) |
| Occupation | CEO of Picsart |
| Organization | Picsart |
| Known for | CEO and co-founder of Picsart |
Early life and education
editHovhannes 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.[3][4] He is also a 2005 graduate of Harvard Business School's Bertelsmann Senior Executive's program.[3]
Career
editIn 1996, Avoyan founded CEDIT, a software development services company, which was acquired by mobile communications software developer Brience in 2000.[citation needed]
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.[5][6]
In 2007, Avoyan founded and served as General Manager of Monitis Inc., which was acquired by TeamViewer/GFI Software) in 2011.[7][8]
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's software reportedly has more than 150 million monthly active users, and has been downloaded 1 billion times as of September 2020.[9]
Accolades
editIn 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
editAvoyan supports AI development in Armenia by establishing schools and best practices in the country to help its data scientists compete globally.[12]
Artificial intelligence
editHovhannes is an author and speaker on artificial intelligence and advocates the establishment of machine learning and data science schools in Armenia.[13][14]
References
edit- ^ a b "Picsart Gold – Super Advanced Photo Editor App". Newsgaze. 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ^ American University of Armenia Corporation Board of Trustees
- ^ a b "Hovhannes Avoyan Forbes Councils". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ^ "Hovhannes Avoyan (M PSIA '95) Appointed AUAC Trustee". AUA Newsroom. 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ^ "AUA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD" (PDF). American University of Armenia. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Hovhannes Avoyan". VentureBeat.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Outsourcing Journal". Outsourcing Journal. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ "Becoming Creative: Picsart helps kickstart storytelling". Financial Express. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ "Hovhannes Avoyan (MPSIA '95) Receives AUA Distinguished Alumnus 2016 Award". AUA Newsroom. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ^ "2019 ATN Global Armenian Business Awards Recipients Announced". Asbarez. 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ "Picsart CEO: Armenia lacks AI experts and school". Itel.am. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
- ^ "AUA and Picsart Announce Launch of AI Lab". Asbarez. 2019-12-24. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
- ^ "Machine Learning Is Creating A Demand For New Skills". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-06-26.