# Evan Kaplan

> Evan Kaplan is the CEO of InfluxData, the company behind InfluxDB - the world's most popular open-source time series database with over 1.3 million developers. With nearly 20 years in CEO roles across multiple companies, he took InfluxData from a scrappy open-source project of 3,000 users to a platform handling billions of data points per second for 1,900+ enterprise customers. His path to the C-suite ran not through computer science but through environmental science degrees and years spent as a mountain guide in his late 20s - an unconventional origin story that shows up in how he thinks about resilience and long-term endurance.

- **Role:** CEO at InfluxData
- **Organizations:** InfluxData, Aventail Corporation, iPass Corporation, Trinity Ventures, One Heart Worldwide
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's, Environmental Science, Western Washington University, Graduate studies, Antioch University, MBA, University of Washington
- **Known for:** Grew InfluxDB user base from ~3,000 to 1.3 million developers, Raised $201M in total funding including a Series E led by Princeville Capital and Citi Ventures, Scaled InfluxData to 1,900+ enterprise customers

## Career timeline

- **Late 1980s-1990s** — Worked as a mountain climbing and skiing guide around the world in his late 20s
- **1990s** — Aerospace program management work before transitioning to entrepreneurship
- **1990s-2000s** — Founder & CEO of Aventail Corporation, a pioneer in SSL VPN technology, later acquired by Dell
- **2000s-2015** — President & CEO of iPass Corporation, a global Wi-Fi connectivity leader
- **2015-2016** — Executive in Residence at Trinity Ventures (July 2015 - January 2016)
- **2016** — Joined InfluxData as CEO; company had ~3,000 users at the time
- **2019** — InfluxData raises Series D funding, expanding enterprise reach
- **2023-02** — InfluxData raises Series E ($51M latest round, $201M total)
- **2023-04** — Leads launch of InfluxDB 3.0 - complete architectural rewrite in Rust with native SQL and Apache Arrow
- **2024-2025** — InfluxData reaches 1.3 million developers, 1,900+ enterprise customers, billions of data points per second handled

## Achievements

- Grew InfluxDB user base from ~3,000 to 1.3 million developers
- Raised $201M in total funding including a Series E led by Princeville Capital and Citi Ventures
- Scaled InfluxData to 1,900+ enterprise customers
- Led the InfluxDB 3.0 architectural rewrite - moving to Rust, Apache Arrow, and native SQL support
- Built InfluxData into the world's most widely adopted time series database platform
- Nearly 20 years of CEO experience across multiple technology companies
- Board Treasurer of One Heart Worldwide (nonprofit improving maternal/neonatal healthcare in Nepal)
- Helped pioneer SSL VPN technology through Aventail Corporation (acquired by Dell)
- Built iPass Corporation into a leading global Wi-Fi connectivity platform
- Established major cloud provider partnerships including AWS integration for InfluxDB

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Featured on Industrial DataOps Podcast discussing how developer-led innovation is reshaping industrial data
- **2025-01** — Appeared on IoT For All Podcast discussing the power of time series data in IoT applications
- **2024-11** — Featured in Category Visionaries interview: 'Over $170 Million Raised to Build the Leading Time Series Provider'
- **2023-04** — Led launch of InfluxDB 3.0 - a complete architectural overhaul featuring Rust rewrite, Apache Arrow integration, native SQL support, and unlimited cardinality
- **2023-02** — InfluxData closes Series E funding round ($51M latest, $201M total) led by Princeville Capital and Citi Ventures

## Links

- Website: https://influxdata.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaplanevan/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/evankaplan

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/evan-kaplan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-16