U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer Nick Sinai Joins Insight Venture Partners

New York, NY – Insight Venture Partners, a leading global private equity and venture capital firm today announced that Nick Sinai, U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer, has left the White House and joined the firm in the position of Venture Partner.  In this role, Sinai will focus on working with existing portfolio companies in the data and software sectors, and identifying new opportunities for investment in these sectors. 

“We are pleased to welcome Nick to the Insight Venture Partners team.  Nick has remarkable experience leading initiatives that harness the power of data and innovation to advance the future of our nation,” said Deven Parekh, managing director at Insight Venture Partners.  “I’m confident he will help us build value in our existing portfolio and identify new and creative investment opportunities.”

Sinai said, "I am excited to join the talented investors, operators, and growth experts at Insight Venture Partners and support their commitment to investing in and building category-leading technology companies.  I am especially looking forward to working with Insight Venture Partners’ high-quality management teams to identify opportunities to leverage proprietary and publicly available data into new insights, products, and competitive advantage.”

At the White House, Sinai served as U.S. Deputy CTO where he led President Obama’s Open Data and Open Government Initiatives, and worked to advance innovation in health, energy, finance, and education sectors. He helped start and grow the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which brings entrepreneurs and technologists into Federal government.  Sinai also played a key role in developing the Administration’s $4.5B grid modernization strategy to build a smarter and more secure electric grid, and helped develop the President’s ConnectED initiative to bring fast broadband and digital learning to 99% of students.  Prior to the White House, Sinai led a team at the Federal Communication Commission and played a key role in crafting the National Broadband Plan. 

Prior to serving in government, Sinai  was in the venture capital industry at Lehman Brothers Venture Partners (now Tenaya Capital) and Polaris Partners. He co-established the Boston office of Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, sourced investments, and served as a board representative and advisor to portfolio companies.  Previously, at Polaris Partners since 2004, Sinai  helped invest in almost a dozen Internet, software, communications and clean technology companies, including an early stage investment in LogMeIn (NASDAQ: LOGM) and a growth equity investment in Confluence, a financial technology company. 

Sinai has also served in executive and advisory roles with two Boston area start-up technology companies, and as a senior advisor to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.  He started his career as a management consultant in telecom, Internet, and media. 

Sinai  is an inaugural recipient of the newly established Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, where he is focusing on data as public infrastructure and the media, policy and economic implications of providing greater public access to government data.  He earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University.

About Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $8 billion and invested in more than 200 companies worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information on Insight and all of its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on twitter: @insightpartners.com.