IN-Q-TEL ANNOUNCES AMIT YORAN AS NEW CEO
Yoran to Lead Strategic Venture Fund for the U.S. Intelligence Community
Janaury 4, 2006
Arlington, VA
In-Q-Tel, a private, not-for-profit, independent venture group established by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), today announced information security expert Amit Yoran as In-Q-Tel's new President and CEO. Yoran takes over on January 3, 2006 from Gilman Louie, who has served as In-Q-Tel's CEO since the company's launch in 1999.
As a successful technology entrepreneur, investor, and former government leader, Yoran joins In-Q-Tel having spent the past year advising emerging security technology companies and working with larger firms to develop security strategies. In 2003, Yoran was appointed as Director of the National Cyber Security Division at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he was responsible for information sharing and managing national and global initiatives to thwart computer network attacks.
Yoran co-founded and was CEO of Riptech, Inc, a venture-backed network security firm acquired by Symantec Corporation in 2002. At Symantec, Yoran served as Vice President of Worldwide Managed Security Services. Early in his career, Yoran oversaw the Vulnerability Assessment Program within the Computer Emergency Response Team at the Department of Defense. He serves on several corporate boards, including Trust Digital, Guardium, and Guidance Software, and on advisory boards including the FBI InfraGard Advisory Board, the Department of Homeland Security - SRI Cyber R&D Center Advisory Board, IT Governance Institute Advisory Panel, and the Verisign Public Advisory Group. He holds a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.S. from George Washington University.
"America's great engine of technology innovation is fueled by venture capital. In-Q-Tel is the critical link between emerging technology and the vital national security demands of intelligence. Now more than ever, we must deliver the tools that the men and women of the Intelligence Community need to protect our country at home and around the world. I am honored to be asked to lead this unique and innovative effort called In-Q-Tel," said Amit Yoran
Since 1999, In-Q-Tel has engaged with nearly 90 companies and delivered more than 100 technology solutions to the Intelligence Community. In-Q-Tel's entrepreneurial venture model gives it the agility - lacking within traditional government contracting approaches - to find and nurture the entrepreneurs and companies that can provide a supply chain of innovation that enables the IC to benefit from technology breakthroughs.
"Amit's lifetime experience - as an entrepreneur, a venture investor and leader in commercial companies and national security - makes him the perfect fit for our organization," said Gilman Louie, outgoing In-Q-Tel President and CEO. His critical understanding of key technologies, and security needs will position In-Q-Tel to continue to serve as a unique tool driving innovation across the broader Intelligence Community."
Gilman Louie will stay on at In-Q-Tel for a short period of time to ensure a smooth transition, following which he will depart to start a new venture capital firm in the San Francisco Bay Area.
About In-Q-Tel
In-Q-Tel is a private, independent, not-for-profit venture group established by the CIA. Launched in 1999, our mission is to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve United States national security interests. Working from an evolving strategic blueprint defining the Intelligence Community's critical technology needs, we engage with entrepreneurs, established companies, researchers, and venture capitalists to deliver technologies that pay out in superior intelligence capabilities for the CIA, DIA, FBI, NGA, and the larger Intelligence Community (IC). In-Q-Tel concentrates on three broad commercial technology areas: software, infrastructure and physical and biological materials. To date, In-Q-Tel has engaged with nearly 90 companies and delivered more than 120 technology solutions to the IC. To learn more about In-Q-Tel, please visit www.in-q-tel.org.
