| Kamran Elahian | |
| Native Name: | Persian: کامران الهیان |
| Birth Place: | Tehran, Iran |
| Nationality: | Iranian American |
| Occupation: | Entrepreneur |
| Spouse: | Zohre Elahian |
Kamran Elahian (Persian: کامران الهیان) is an Iranian-American entrepreneur who is the chairman and founder of Global Innovation Catalyst and advises various governments on the needed transition from fossil-based economies to sustainable innovation economies. In the past, as a global high-tech entrepreneur, he co- founded ten companies, had 6 exits, 3 of them were Unicorn IPOs [1] with a totalmarket cap of over $8B.[2] For 15 years he was Chairman of Global Catalyst Partners, a global VC firm ($350Munder management) with investments in the U.S., Japan, China, India, Israel and Singapore. Underlying hisvision for global philanthropy is the conviction that modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)can be instrumental in dissolving barriers between nations and bridging the social and political differencesamong people.[3] [4] This vision was reflected in Schools-Online, a nonprofit he co-founded in 1996 to connect theworld, one school at a time (6400 schools in 36 countries were provided with computers and access to theInternet) and merged with Relief International in 2003; Global Catalyst Foundation, co-founded in 2000 toimprove lives through effective education and empowerment of the youth (with special emphasis on youngwomen) using the leverage of ICT,[5] and UN-GAID, a United Nations global forum that promotes ICT in developing countries where he served as Co-Chairman (2009-2011).
Kamran co-founded 10 companies:[6] had 6 exits, 3 of them were Unicorn IPOs with a total market cap of over $8B.