Amit Yoran named president, CEO of In-Q-Tel

Former cyber-security czar Amit Yoran was named president and CEO of In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital unit. The Menlo Park, California-based In-Q-Tel was established in 1999 to provide the U.S. government with a vehicle to invest in novel technologies. The organization provides equity, product development funding, innovative intellectual property arrangements, and contracting guidance to promising start-ups. Yoran succeeds Gilman Louie, the organization’s first leader. His experience blends private and public sector endeavors.

Yoran is a West Point graduate. He earned a master’s degree from George Washington University. In addition to his government experience, he served as director of the National Cyber Security Division at DHS and had a job early in his career with the Pentagon’s Computer Emergency Response Team — Yoran brings to the job private sector experience as well. He founded VC firm RipTech in 1998, which he sold to Symantec in 2002.

As we have reported recently, In-Q-Tel has invested in at least eighty companies during the past six years, typically providing between $1 million and $3 million. Its stated mission is not only to nurture technologies for government use, but also to look for commercial counterparts to the intelligence community’s enterprise challenges. Specific areas of interest include software for search and categorization, translation and simulation, and wireless, security, semiconductor, and nanotechnology infrastructure. Additionally, In-Q-Tel invests in biotechnology, power, and sensor technologies.

-read more in Ellen McCarthy’s Washington Post article

Amit Yoran