Chris Young spent more than four years at M12.

Chris Young

Chris Young, the leader of M12 has resigned. Photo courtesy of LinkedIn

Chris Young has resigned from his role as executive vice president of business development, strategy and ventures at M12, Microsoft’s corporate venturing fund.

Young joined Microsoft in 2020, and has overseen the corporate venturing activities through the tech investment boom years and subsequent post-2022 crash. During his tenure, the rise of products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT entered the mainstream.

Before Microsoft, Young was CEO of McAfee, the US software company that specialises in anti-virus protection, a position he held for for three years.

M12 was launched in 2016 as a subsidiary of Microsoft. It invests in companies across sectors including AI, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, healthcare, SaaS and Web3.

In the last quarter of 2024, it participated in seven funding rounds, according to GCV’s Funding Round Database. These included Relyance, a US startup making an AI-powered data governance and compliance platform, and Fastino, which makes foundational AI models.

Young will stay with the company until March as it undergoes transition to his successor, but not in the role he has resigned from, according to an SEC filing that announced his resignation.

The news came shortly after GCV reported on the departure of an investor from M12, Chinedu Udeogu, who has left to join VC firm 53 Stations.

Chris Young has not disclosed his next move.

Stephen Hurford

Stephen Hurford is a junior reporter for Global Corporate Venturing.