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Canaan Partners

Canaan Management, LLC
Canaan Partners
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture Capital
PredecessorGE Venture Capital
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
FoundersHarry Rein
Eric Young
HeadquartersStamford, Connecticut, U.S.
AUMUS$6.8 billion (April 2023)[1]
Websitewww.canaan.com
Footnotes / references
[2]

Canaan Partners, LLC (Canaan) is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut with offices in San Francisco, Menlo Park and New York City. The firm focuses on investing in early stage companies in the technology and healthcare industries. Since 2014, the firm has also been investing in technology companies based in Israel.[1][3][4][5]

Background

In 1987, Harry Rein, Eric Young and several other employees at the venture capital unit of General Electric performed a management buyout to spin out the unit as an independent firm. The firm was subsequently named Canaan Partners and would be based in Westport, Connecticut.[3][6][7][8][9]

In 2003, Rein left Canaan for a position with Foundation Medical Partners.[8]

Towards the end of 2013, the firm established Canaan Partners Israel in Tel Aviv which would manage a $30 million fund to invest in Israeli technology companies. The fund would be managed independently of its American counterpart.[5][10]

In 2018, the firm unveiled a program named Canaan Beta where it sets aside part of its latest fund to its youngest employees to manage. In 2017, $20 million was allocated to two of its youngest employees.[11][12]

Canaan primarily invests in the technology and healthcare sectors. It allocates 60% of its capital to technology investments and 40% to healthcare investments. On average its investments are $15–20 million per company.[3][4][9] Notable investments include Ebates,[9] Instacart,[4] LendingClub,[3][9] The RealReal,[1][4] Turo[4] and Zoosk.[9]

Compared to peer VC firms, Canaan invests in more female-managed companies. 40% of its investment team are women, four times the industry average.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Loizos, Connie (April 6, 2023). "In a slowing market, venture investor Canaan still closes $850M across two new funds". TechCrunch.
  2. ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC.
  3. ^ a b c d e Brown, Eliot (July 25, 2017). "In Silicon Valley, the Big Venture Funds Keep Getting Bigger". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Venture Investor Canaan Raises $800 Million for New Fund". Bloomberg.com. October 13, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Canaan Partners Raises Money to Invest in Israeli Technology". Bloomberg.com. November 6, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  6. ^ Cuff, Daniel F. (November 5, 1987). "BUSINESS PEOPLE; Venture Group at G.E. Is Eager to Go It Alone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  7. ^ "Tribute Archive Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information". www.tributearchive.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Meikle, Brad (February 3, 2003). "Harry Rein Pours New Foundation". Buyouts. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Canaan Partners brings in $675M for 10th fund, plots health-tech investments". VentureBeat. October 16, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  10. ^ "Canaan Partners Raises Initial $30 Million for New Fund - Business - Haaretz.com". Haaretz. May 21, 2023. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  11. ^ Konrad, Alex. "This VC Firm Just Gave Two Twenty-Something Investors $20 Million To Find The Next Snapchat". Forbes. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  12. ^ Dickey, Megan Rose (June 20, 2018). "Canaan Partners gives $20 million to its two youngest employees to invest in consumer startups". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 21, 2023.

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