Kamran Elahian is an Iranian‑American entrepreneur, global venture capitalist, innovation catalyst, and philanthropist. As the Founding Chairman of Global Innovation Catalyst, he advises governments on the transition from fossil‑based to sustainable innovation economies.

With a career spanning three decades, Kamran co‑founded ten high‑tech companies—six of which achieved successful exits, including three unicorn IPOs (Cirrus Logic, NeoMagic, Centillium Communications) with a combined peak market capitalization exceeding $8 billion. He also served for 15 years as Chairman of Global Catalyst Partners, a global venture capital firm investing across the U.S., Japan, China, India, Israel, and Singapore.

A champion of “entrepreneurship without borders,” Kamran co‑founded schools‑online initiatives, including what became Relief International, delivering internet access to 6,400 schools in 36 countries. He also Co‑Founded the Global Catalyst Foundation, empowering youth—particularly young women—through ICT, and co‑chaired the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT in Development (UN‑GAID).

His thought leadership roles include serving as a Founding Mentor at Unreasonable Institute, advisor to 500 Startups on innovation economies, and Chairman of BIT‑AMENA at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Kamran earned degrees in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Computer Graphics from the University of Utah, and participated in the HP‑Stanford Honors Program in integrated circuit design. His early career included engineering roles at Hewlett Packard before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey.

Driven by the mission to “bend the arc of humanity toward a better world,” Kamran blends business performance with impactful social innovation, embodying his vision of leveraging technology to foster empathy, tolerance, and global connectivity