Biden nominates Indian-American VC for key post

Biden nominates Indian-American VC for key post


US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-origin global venture capitalist Deven Parekh to the Board of Directors of the International Development Finance Corporation for a fresh term of three years.

Parekh is a Managing Director at Insight Partners, a growth equity investment fund based in New York City.

By statute, the Development Finance Corporation Board of Directors includes four members recommended to the President from Senate and House leadership.

Parekh is the nominee recommended by the Senate Majority Leader, the White House said in a statement.

Since joining Insight in 2000, Parekh has made more than 140 investments in enterprise software, data, and consumer internet businesses globally, including in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Australia.

In addition to his work at Insight and for the Development Finance Corporation, Parekh serves as a Board Member for the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NYU Langone, the Tisch New York MS Research Center, and the Economic Club of New York.

He has previously served on the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Advisory Board of the US Export-Import Bank, and a Technical Advisory Council of the Federal Communications Commission.

In 2021, Parekh received the Robert F Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award. He is also a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

Prior to joining Insight, Parekh was a Principal at Berenson Minella & Company, a New York-based merchant banking firm, where he served on the M&A Committee.

He also worked for Blackstone on M&A and other investment activities. Parekh has a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

The US International Development Finance Corporation is America’s development bank, and partners with the private sector to finance solutions to challenges facing the developing world.