Michael Young has been director of Caterpillar Ventures, corporate venturing subsidiary of construction equipment maker Caterpillar, since the unit’s launch in June 2015.
Caterpillar Venture Capital helps entrepreneurs from across the globe to foster and grow their businesses with Caterpillar’s industry knowledge, resources and dealer network. Caterpillar Ventures focuses on distributed power, analytics, robotics, additive manufacturing and business models.
Most recently, Caterpillar Venture Capital provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based electric vehicle and battery technology provider Fisker and a $20m series A round for US-based smart hardhat manufacturer Guardhat in October.
A month earlier, US-based workplace robotics technology provider Sarcos Robotics received $30m in a series B round from the unit, alongside other corporates power and industrial manufacturer General Electric, software provider Microsoft and oilfield services supplier Schlumberger.
In 2017, the unit supplied funds in an $18m round for Canada-based mining data platform creator MineSense Technologies in August, a $2m post-initial public offering equity for Australia-based robotic technology developer Fastbrick Robotics in July and an $11m series A round for US-based business planning software developer Riivos, at that time still known as Alight.
Apart from funding companies, Young has also overseen a mergers and acquisitions deal in May 2017 when Caterpillar acquired its portfolio company Yard Club, a US-based construction equipment management platform, for an undisclosed sum. Yard Club had previously received an undisclosed amount from Caterpillar in mid-2015 at which time it started collaborating with members in Caterpillar’s dealer network.
Before joining the unit, Young had been a director of corporate strategy at the parent Caterpillar for three years where he was involved in the company’s five-year strategic plan called 2020 Vision, which has included initiatives such as the seed-grow-harvest business model.
During that time, Young was also in charge of M&A where he carried out 12 transactions in both the US and Asia-Pacific.
He also served seven years as Caterpillar’s China-based director of business development of Asia-Pacific, including joint venture and M&A, in Beijing.
Before that, he had been at computing technology manufacturer Dell from 1995 to 2001 holding multiple roles in the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China. In Singapore, he served as a transaction associate at its corporate venturing unit Dell Ventures, where he led investments in four enterprises in Asia-Pacific – three of which went public.
While in China and Hong Kong, Young was chief financial officer where he devised China sales and operations and handled Dell’s investments, operations, employee benefits, banking and taxing with government authorities.
He started his career at chemicals manufacturer Ethyl’s petroleum additive facility in the laboratory while he was completing his bachelor of science degree in accounting and finance at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. Then he held a number of accounting roles. He spent almost a decade in total at Ethyl.
Young also holds an MBA from St Louis University.
