Independent rating of Canaan Partners VC fund
Overall rating:
5.0
(16)
About Canaan Partners VC fund
Website:
Founded:
1987
Number of funds:
15
Number of investments:
712
Number of exits:
143
Headquarters:
Organization type:
Venture Capital
How Canaan Partners VC fund invests
Rounds:
Average ticket size:
15.7M USD
Smallest investment:
1M USD
Biggest investment:
42.9M USD
Would lead round:
Yes
Would coinvest:
Yes
Countries where invested:
Sectors of interest:
Software, Machine Learning, E-Commerce, Web Apps, Training, Supply Chain Management, Real Estate, Open Source, Nursing and Residential Care, Medical, Marketplace, Manufacturing, Information Technology, Industrial Engineering, Industrial, Human Resources, Health Care, Finance, FinTech, Elderly, Elder Care, E-Learning, Computer, Commercial Real Estate, Cloud Data Services, Biotechnology, Big Data, B2B, Automotive, Artificial Intelligence, 3D Printing
Founders' reviews of Canaan Partners VC fund
Older than a year by portfolio founder
Round: Pre-Seed
Team Mates for Life
Invested early, pre-product. Stuck with us throughs ups and downs.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Canaan Needs a Restart or Just Blackball Balen
I met with John Balen from Canaan six months ago to introduce our company. Co-founders and I had a great initial meeting with him and got pretty valuable insight from that conversation. We were too early--we knew it, he did too. They passed, but were eager to see us again.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Smart, Good Thinker, Respectful: Really Stands Apart
We met with Dan Ciporin. He didn't get our business at first and challenged us, but he listened and got it. He asked great questions and quickly figured out where the key challenges were, but also got the vision. He was very engaged. He didn't invest (yet), but gave us a chance to prove ourselves. I don't know if they will invest in us or even if we want them to, but Dan, who was the CEO of Shopping.com, and knows what he is doing, is someone I would think about first when considering investors.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Not Much Help
We got a two liner "no thank you" citing that our opportunity is outside their targeted area of interest.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Good Experience
I just finished pitching Canaan and had a very good experience. While they declined to make an investment, they were smart, professional, responsive, and nice people. I had an answer back in about two weeks.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Professional & Quick Turnaround.
I approached a General Partner at Canaan. Although he decided to pass on the investment, he was professional. He thanked me for giving him the opportunity and indicated that our business area was not an area of target investment.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Good Impression of Maha
She seemed very smart and very polite. She got most of the right questions about our business. Seems like she'd be a good person to work with.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Deepak Kamra
Canaan has a clue. They were an investor in a previous company & Mr. Kamra was on our board. He understood our problems and knew when it was time to pull the plug on us. Other VC's, who stayed the course lost a boatload of money.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Straight Out of the VC Playbook
Working with Canaan and John Balen was like watching a mediocre movie about taking venture capital investment. At every stage from early on pitching through the Board process, Balen seemed to be reading from a prepared script, and the theme was traditional counter-entrepreneur and nickel-and-dime for a sliver of return (we've all seen this film). That said, their money was good, Balen operated with high integrity and never crossed the line, no emotion, just business, and I felt like I knew where I stood. Can't say what would have happened had things gone wrong, and glad for that.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Great When It Gets Difficult
I have worked with Skip at the BOD level. The real test is how an investor deals with difficult situations. Skip jumps in and contributes. In our case that resulted in a great outcome. When you are on Sand Hill Road make sure you schedule a meeting. It will be worth the time; no doubt.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Skip Glass
I had a chance to pitch Skip and I must say I really appreciated his polite and respectful manner that he ran the meeting. He ultimately said not but was good enough to tell me what was needed to make it a yes. Not just a no and see you later. I've had to pitch some rude SOBs and really appreciated the respect he gave. I would recommend other entrepreneurs contact him.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Maha
No quesiton Maha is the person you want to start with. She is very smart, very focused and gets to the point. She doesn't waste your time or hers. But also agree, don't be fooled by how nice she is. Though I didnt go through drafting with her, they seemed able to move quickly with the right idea.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Furnivall is a Pleasure to Pitch
Recently pitched to Jim Furnivall, who apologized before interrupting with questions, asked questions that were very well conceived, and was a real pleasure to interact with. He was clear about next steps, and quickly made some background calls and pow-wowed with his partners to assess their level of interest. Traded voicemails with him for days, before I reached him to find out he passed, but the point is that he felt he owed it to me to do so directly, and not by voicemail or email. His was frank that his reasons for passing had less to do with concerns about our business, then about their own lack of experience in our space. This was very refreshing!
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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Canaan Partners Should Be on Everyone's "List"
This is a substantial VC with an excellent group of Pros - although, most of my experience was with the Sand Hill Road team (which is the bulk of the company) - and did not deal much with the Ct. group. If you look at Canaan's results, you will note that their portfolio companies have a higher-% of successful exits than most VC's ... a "telling' statistic. Whether you ultimately get/not get funding from Canaan, you'll be impressed with their courtesy and not wasting your time. There are some specific "jewels" that you should seek-out at Canaan if you are going to pitch to them.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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No Problem with Balen
During our recent Series B activity I had very positive interactions with John and although we did not get there on our deal I couldn't disagree more with the negative and frankly personal criticism of John recently posted here.
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
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John Balen is an Abusive Arse
I know the instructions say to be "considerate and polite," but if the purpose of this website is to allow entrepreneurs to share the good, the bad and the ugly, I have to share this in the hopes that others are at least forwarned before going into the maw of the croc.