About Canaan
Canaan is a venture capital firm founded in 1987. It is primarily based out of San Francisco, United States. As of Apr 2026, Canaan is an active investor, having invested in 454 companies, with 6 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series A round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to Life Sciences and Consumer. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series B round of C-Infinity Overall, Canaan portfolio has seen 12 unicorns, 29 IPOs and 186 acquisitions including key companies like Instacart, Bird and Kabam. A lot of funds co-invest with Canaan, with names like New Enterprise Associates sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Canaan has team of 52 people including 27 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 8 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Unicorns
Deals in last 12 months
Canaan's List of Top Investments
Canaan has a portfolio of 454 companies, including 12 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in Doorstep and Truveris.Their portfolio spans across United States, India, Israel and 18 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, Consumer and 31 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 8 more. Here is the list of top investments by Canaan:1. Instacart
Operator of an online marketplace providing grocery and delivery services. The platform connects customers with personal shoppers who fulfill orders from various retailers. Customers can select items, chat with shoppers, and schedule delivery or pickup. The marketplace offers a range of grocery, household, and other retail products. It also provides options for membership and business accounts.
Key facts about Instacart
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $3.74B as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $2.93B
- Employee Count: 24,361 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Kaplan Group Investments, TCV and 82 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series F, Oct 15, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Public
2. Bird
App-based rental platform providing self-drive electric kick-scooters. Users can locate, and reserve electric kick-scooters through the app. They can unlock vehicles by scanning the QR codes, ride the scooters, and park in legal parking spaces at the end of the ride. The kick-scooters include self-reporting damage sensors, self-sealing tires, dual anti-tipping kickstands, and anti-theft encryption. App is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Key facts about Bird
- Founded Year: 2017
- Location: Miami (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $245M as on Dec 31, 2022
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $765M
- Employee Count: 947 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Glynn Capital, TriplePoint Capital and 60 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, Aug 04, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Public
3. Kabam
Kabam is a video game developer and publisher based in Canada.It specializes in mid-core games and MMOs for mobile and web platforms. It is focused on developing AAA mobile games. It has developed multiple games including "Marvel: Contest of Champions" and "Transformers: Forged to Fight" based on a Freemium model for mobile platforms and web platforms such as Facebook, Yahoo and their website. Has won multiple awards including "Apple Editors Choice 2014" and "Google Play Editors Choice 2014" for its game Marvel Contest of Champions.
Key facts about Kabam
- Founded Year: 2006
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $245M
- Employee Count: 792 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Intel, Founders Circle Capital and 17 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Jul 31, 2014, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
4. Lending Club
P2P marketplace for consumer and business loans. It offers multiple loans including personal loans, refinancing loans, healthcare loans, SME loans, and more. It offers loans to borrowers from multiple institutional/individual investors and lenders. Loans are offered on the basis of credit assessments and user profiles.
Key facts about Lending Club
- Founded Year: 2006
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $999M as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $219M
- Employee Count: 1,391 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: TrueBridge, Section Partners and 45 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Oct 18, 2016, $*****
- Highlight: Public
5. Turo
App-based P2P car rental platform. Their platform connects vehicle owners who are willing to rent their cars with other users. Users can host or rent their vehicle on the platform and users in need of vehicles can search and book the vehicles of their preferences. It offers features like insured rides, contactless-delivery options, and more. Their mobile app is available for Android and iOS devices.
Key facts about Turo
- Founded Year: 2010
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series F
- Total Funding till date: $523M
- Employee Count: 1,729 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: August Capital, Cross Creek and 52 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series F, Apr 03, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Canaan's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Canaan has invested in 454 companies over the last 29 years, with an average of 17 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 20 investments, while as of Apr 2026, it has made 3 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in C-Infinity and most recent follow-on round was in RenoFi.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
2025 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
2024 | 8 | 11 | 19 |
2023 | 12 | 8 | 20 |
2022 | 15 | 12 | 27 |
2021 | 28 | 29 | 57 |
2020 | 20 | 22 | 42 |
2019 | 21 | 18 | 39 |
2018 | 19 | 23 | 42 |
2017 | 12 | 14 | 26 |
Canaan's Investments by Stage
Canaan has made 165 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $19.3M, 94 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $24.2M and 69 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $4.46M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 165 |
Series B | 94 |
Seed | 69 |
Series C | 29 |
Series D | 6 |
Others | 6 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Canaan's Investments by Sector
Canaan has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, Consumer, High Tech and FinTech. Notably, it has invested in 375 Tech companies, 307 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 203 Software companies and at least 129 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 144 |
Life Sciences | 89 |
Consumer | 72 |
High Tech | 48 |
FinTech | 42 |
Others | 332 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Canaan's Investments by Geography
Canaan has made most investments in United States (306), followed by India where it has made 16 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 306 |
India | 16 |
Israel | 12 |
United Kingdom | 10 |
Brazil | 5 |
Others | 20 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Canaan's recent investments
Canaan has made 3 investments in 2026 so far. C-Infinity and RenoFi are the latest among them.Here are the most recent investments by Canaan:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 22, 2026 | United States | Series B | 4044 | ||
Mar 03, 2026 | United States | Series B | 4259 | [+8] | |
Feb 19, 2026 | Switzerland | Seed | 2965 | [+2] | |
Dec 15, 2025 | United States | Series B | 1366 | [+8] | |
Oct 22, 2025 | - | Series A | 4174 | [+5] |
Unicorns in Canaan's Portfolio
Canaan has 12 unicorns in its portfolio - Hermeus, Tomorrow.io, Field AI and others. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Hermeus. It became a unicorn in 2026, 5 years after Canaan first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Canaan's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
64 | Manufacturer of supersonic aircraft | 2018 | Atlanta | Series C | nzedqqr | ||
76 | Provider of weather intelligence platform delivering forecasts and operational decision support | 2016 | Boston | Series F | xudc{tk | ||
62 | Provider of AI-powered software brains that make robots autonomous | 2016 | Irvine | Series D | gdquijz | ||
76 | Provider of a platform automating meeting transcription and summarization | 2016 | Pleasanton | Series A | negeetw | ||
72 | Digital platform that connects senior members with caregivers | 2017 | Miami | Series D | bkgztfu |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Canaan's Portfolio
29 of Canaan's portfolio companies have become public. AgomAb Therapeutics got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), in Feb 2026 at marketcap of $780M and Instacart got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) at marketcap of $8.3B.Here are Canaan's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 06, 2026 | Oct 11, 2023 | Series C | 6568 | |
Sep 19, 2023 | Oct 25, 2012 | Seed | 8282 | |
Nov 05, 2021 | Jun 28, 2018 | Series C | 8917 | |
Sep 15, 2021 | Jan 10, 2020 | Series A | 5095 | |
Aug 20, 2021 | Dec 2009 | Series A | 1693 |
Acquired companies in Canaan's Portfolio
186 companies from Canaan's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Esperion Therapeutics in May 2026 by ARCHIMED for $*****.Here are Canaan's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 01, 2026 | Jan 13, 2000 | Series A | 1923 | |
Apr 09, 2026 | Aug 04, 2022 | Series A | 9931 | |
Mar 23, 2026 | May 10, 2016 | Series B | 5166 | |
Mar 06, 2026 | May 21, 2020 | Series A | 1701 | |
Jan 20, 2026 | Jun 01, 2023 | Series C | 4166 |
Team profile of Canaan
Canaan has a team of 52 members including 27 Partners, 9 Venture Partners and 2 Principals located in United States, Singapore and 2 more locations. Canaan's team sits on the board of 10 companies.Here is a list of top team members in Canaan:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | San Francisco | Sounding Board, Lily and 1 more | ||
Partner | San Francisco | - | ||
Partner | Menlo Park | - | ||
Partner | Menlo Park | - | ||
Partner | New York City | |||
Partner | New York City | - | ||
Partner | Menlo Park | Turo and World View | ||
Partner | San Francisco | |||
Partner | Menlo Park | - | ||
Partner | Westport | |||
Partner | New Haven | - | - |
Co-investors of Canaan
Over the past 29 years, 2108 investors have co-invested in Canaan's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Canaan: Y Combinator, Techstars and 489 others have invested in rounds before Canaan. There are 6 companies where Y Combinator has invested before Canaan and 6 companies where Techstars has invested before Canaan.
- Top Co-investors of Canaan: 740 investors entered a company along with Canaan. These include investors like New Enterprise Associates (13 companies).
- Invested after Canaan: A total of 877 investors have invested in Canaan's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Tiger Global Management (8 companies), Google Ventures (8 companies) and SVB (8 companies).
Recent News related to Canaan
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SageOx Raises $15M in Seed FundingFinSMEs•May 06, 2026•Pioneer Square Labs, A.Capital Ventures, Canaan, Founders' Co-op
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C-Infinity raises $16 million to address manufacturing bottleneck between design and productionBusiness Wire•Apr 23, 2026•C-Infinity, Inventus Capital Partners, Canaan, Radius Capital and 1 other
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Hermeus raises $350M at $1B valuationSiliconAngle•Apr 08, 2026•Hermeus, Khosla Ventures, RTX, Bling Capital and 14 others
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RenoFi Completes $22M Series B RoundMassinvestor•Mar 04, 2026•RenoFi, Fifth Wall, Progressive Insurance, TruStage and 11 others
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Rapidata Raises $8.5M in Seed FundingFinSMEs•Feb 19, 2026•Rapidata, BlueYard, Acequia Capital, IA Ventures and 1 other
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Tomorrow.io Raises $175M to Deploy AI Weather Satellite ConstellationSiliconAngle•Feb 03, 2026•Tomorrow.io, Amazon, Experience., HarbourVest Partners and 8 others
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Novee bags $51.5M funding for AI offensive security platformSiliconAngle•Jan 14, 2026•Zeev Ventures, YL Ventures, Canaan, Novee
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Sumble Raised $38.5 Million in Seed and Series A Roundsstartuplog.com•Oct 23, 2025•Sumble, Stack Overflow, Coatue, Snowflake and 6 others
