Canaan Partners Appoints Former Yahoo! and Symantec Executive, Sharad Sharma, as Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Sharma to Strengthen Firm’s Global Presence and Commitment to Cloud Computing
New Delhi, INDIA, May 28, 2009: Canaan Partners, a multibillion-dollar global venture capital firm, today announced it has appointed Sharad Sharma as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Mr. Sharma previously led Yahoo! India R&D where he was responsible for product engineering for all emerging markets and for several global products including image search, search monetization and HotJobs. Mr. Sharma has more than 22 years of global experience in the Internet, enterprise software and infrastructure markets and will help strengthen Canaan’s global presence and focus on the Cloud Computing market.
“This is the first time a global EIR is appointed out of India. Sharad’s ability to bridge U.S. operations with global markets is a great fit for Canaan,” said Alok Mittal, General Partner at Canaan. “Cloud Computing is a global phenomenon and Canaan is vey well positioned to be a partner for pioneering companies worldwide. Sharad will help us expand our investments in this space by identifying key trends and attracting innovative entrepreneurs across the globe.”
Prior to joining Yahoo!, Mr. Sharma was the India General Manager and VP of Product Operations with Symantec (formerly VERITAS Software) and was responsible for the turnaround of VERITAS operations in India. He was also a co-founder and CEO of Teltier Technologies, a New Jersey based wireless infrastructure start-up that is now part of Cisco. Mr. Sharma has managed product development teams at Lucent Technologies in both the U.S. and India and he established AT&T’s and later Lucent’s R&D organization in India when offshore product development was just beginning.
“Sharad brings a unique mix of investment, leadership and product experience in both infrastructure technology and global markets to Canaan,” said Maha Ibrahim, General Partner at Canaan. “His experience will be a real asset as we continue our growth in India and other global markets. Sharad’s insight will also help us build on the momentum we’ve established in the virtualization and Cloud Computing markets with investments in companies like Virsto.”
About Canaan Partners
Canaan Partners is a global venture capital firm that invests in people to turn visionary ideas into valuable and significant technology & healthcare companies. For over 20 years, Canaan Partners has backed entrepreneurs by giving them the transformational opportunities, luminary insights and operational guidance it requires to build high-performance companies.
In India, Canaan Partners’ focus areas include consumer internet, mobile VAS and enterprise and managed services. Canaan Partners’ investments in India include mCarbon, a hotbed for VAS, Chakpak – the leading online entertainment community, UnitedLex in legal outsourcing space, iYogi – a global direct-to-consumer and small business remote tech support provider, BharatMatrimony.com – India’s most trusted matrimonial portal and Cellcast Asia Holdings from the mobile VAS space.
Globally, Canaan Partners has been the early investor in some of the world’s leading technology companies, including Acme Packet, CommerceOne, DoubleClick and Match.com as well as healthcare giants Cerexa, Dexcom, Northstar Neuroscience and Peninsula Pharmaceuticals.
Founded in 1987, Canaan Partners has $3 billion capital under management and has invested in more than 240 companies, completed 63 mergers and acquisitions, and brought over 51 companies public. Canaan is headquartered in Menlo Park, California and also has offices in Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information, visit: www.canaan.com.
