Eric Young

Since co-founding Canaan in 1987, Eric has helped launch a multitude of market-leading companies from inception to IPO or acquisition. He was an early investor in Copper Mountain Networks (CMTN), whose technology led the 1990’s DSL wave in North America; ONI Systems, the leader in the revolutionary merging of the metro area voice and data communication that is the basis of Ciena’s current offerings (acquired by Ciena); and Kalpana, which introduced the concept of a multi-port Ethernet switch (acquired by Cisco Systems). Eric also generated numerous positive outcomes from his investments in high-performance companies such as Argon Networks, Capstone Turbine, Diffusion Software, Frame Technology, International Network Services, International Packaging Assembly, Spectrian and Visigenic Software.

Eric leads Canaan’s investments in cleantech and also pursues key opportunities in network infrastructure. Passionate about changing the balance in the energy industry to support a more sustainable future, Eric has been investing in cleantech since the early 1990s, when he backed early disruptors Transphase Systems, maker of large-scale energy storage systems; and Capstone Turbine, now the world’s leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems and the first to market with commercially viable microturbine energy products. As an active Board member for 13 years, Eric helped transform Capstone Turbine from an engineering project into publicly-held leader in the distributed power generation industry. Elsewhere, Eric has contributed as an active director at Enpirion, whose technology represents the first major innovation in integrated power technology in over a decade. Most recently, Eric has been an active advisor to Zolo Technologies as they have developed strategic relationships as a basis for deploying their unique optical measurement technology in large, established power generation markets.

Prior to Canaan, Eric was a Senior VP of GE Venture Capital, where he led successful investments in companies such as Nellcor and Octel Communications. Eric also held a variety of sales, marketing and operations management positions at GE in two power-related industrial product businesses.

Eric currently sits on the boards of Cortina Systems, a leading supplier of intelligent communication solutions; Enpirion, maker of the industry’s smallest power management system on a chip; EnStorage, a low-cost energy-storage-system for multiple energy applications; Lancope, the global market leader in Network Behavior Analysis (NBA) and Response technology; and Xirrus, the leader in High Performance Wi-Fi.

Eric earned a BS in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and a MBA from Northwestern University. Eric recently served for five years as Silicon Valley’s VC-industry representative on Nasdaq’s Listing and Hearing Review Council, He is also member of Advisory Council of Cornell University’s entrepreneurship initiative, Entrepreneurship@Cornell, as well as a frequent speaker to university students at Stanford, Cornell and UC Berkeley on the transformative power of entrepreneurship. An engineer at heart, Eric is happiest when figuring out “how things work” – but he also dabbles in fly fishing, golf and the outdoors in general.

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