Deven Parekh

Deven Parekh is a Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners and joined the firm in 2000.  Deven manages investments in application software, data and consumer internet businesses globally.  Notable previous companies in Deven’s portfolio have included Buddy Media (acquired by SalesForce, NASDAQ: CRM), Chegg (IPO), Football Fanatics (acquired by GSI Commerce, later acquired by eBay), Media Mind (IPO and subsequent sale to DG Fast Channel), Procuri (acquired by Ariba, NASDAQ: ARBA), ECI Solution (sold to Carlyle), Russian Trading System (merged with MICEX), Tumblr (acquired by Yahoo!),  Hayneedle (sale to Jet.com), Syncsort (sale to Clearlake Capital), Alibaba (IPO), Twitter (IPO), JD.com (IPO), and Website Pros (IPO).  Deven is a global investor, actively working with investments in China, Latin America, Europe and Russia.

Deven serves as Board Chair for Bullhorn, DrillingInfo, Turnitin, and Ministry Brands. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Appriss, Campaign Monitor, Fanatics, Diligent, 1stdibs, Vela, Chrono24, LetGo, and Wallapop. He represents the firms interests in Automattic (WordPress), Yext, SkyTap and Zenefits.

Deven was previously a Principal at Berenson Minella & Company, a New York based merchant banking firm where he served on the firm’s M&A Committee.  Prior to Berenson Minella, Deven was with The Blackstone Group, where he was involved in both M&A advisory and principal activities.

Deven was selected in 2014 by AlwaysOn as a Venture Capital 100 winner for his investments in Twitter and Chegg.  He was also selected to be on the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018 Forbes Midas list. In 2016 he was selected as a Top 100 Venture Capitalist by CB Insights. In 2010 Deven was part of a US delegation of several investors, government representatives, and technology companies that visited Russia to explore investment and technology collaboration opportunities between the United States and Russia.  He is a Member of the Technical Advisory Council of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which assists the Commission with developing informed technology policies supporting America’s competitiveness and job creation in the global economy.  During the period 2010–2012, Deven served as a Member of the Advisory Board of the U.S. Export-Import Bank which is the official export credit agent of the United States.  He was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2016 to be on the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Board. In 2006, Deven was named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, which seeks to develop the next generation of community spirited leaders.  

He is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Publicolor (which he chaired from 2007 – 2012), a New York City based non-profit organization that focuses on inner city schools. He is a Member of the Board of the Tisch New York MS Research Center.  He is a member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee for the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.  Deven was a member of the Greater NY Partnership, which pairs business executives with non-profit executive directors. The Partnership is an initiative of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Deven is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as the Economic Club of New York. Deven received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.