Declan Hannon is a business executive and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aurora. Based in the United Kingdom, he is recognized for his experience in strategic partnerships and product management at high-growth financial technology companies, including Revolut and Epos Now. ^{[1] [2]}​

Education

Declon Hannon studied law at University of East Anglia from 2010 to 2014. He previously completed A-Level studies in Law, Geography, General Studies, Critical Thinking, and History at St. John Payne Comprehensive from 2007 to 2009. ^[4]

Career

Declon Hannon began his career in business development roles, including work as a freelancer and a position in sales and business development at Entu. He later joined Epos Now, where he held multiple roles between 2015 and 2020, progressing from Special Projects Manager to Business Analyst and subsequently leading strategic partnerships and App Store product initiatives. His work focused on product delivery, partnership development, and commercial strategy.

In 2020, Hannon joined Revolut, where he served as Director of Strategic Partnerships for the EMEA region and later as Global Director of Strategic Partnerships for its business platform. His responsibilities included partnership strategy development, market expansion initiatives, and cross-functional coordination.

He subsequently held the position of Global Partnerships and Alliances Director at Coincover, where he worked on partnership strategy and channel development. In 2023, Hannon founded Avaley Ltd, providing advisory and contracting services related to business development and strategic partnerships. ^[4]

Aurora

Hannon's career in the blockchain sector began at Aurora Labs. By May 2025, he was serving as the Vice President of Growth. In this capacity, he represented the company at industry events, such as TOKEN2049 in Dubai. During an interview at the event, Hannon articulated Aurora's vision and strategy, which centered on making blockchain technology more accessible to non-technical users and traditional Web2 companies. He emphasized the company's focus on simplifying the complexities of blockchain deployment. ^[3]​

As VP of Growth, Hannon was involved in promoting Aurora's core products. These products included:

• Virtual Chains
• The Forwarder Protocol
• Near Intense
• Virtual Chain Marketplace ^[3]

On December 18, 2025, Aurora announced that Declan Hannon would become its new Chief Executive Officer. The transition saw the former CEO, Alex Shevchenko, move into a Strategic Advisor role to concentrate on protocol-level innovations, particularly NEAR Intents. The announcement of Hannon's appointment as CEO coincided with the listing of Aurora's native token, AURORA as the ecosystem grows. ^[2]​