Insight Partners' Devin Parekh on diversification strategy

While many venture capital firms are aggressively funneling capital into industry giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, Devin Parekh, co-head of Insight Partners, is taking a more measured approach. Managing a massive $90 billion in assets, Parekh and his firm maintain a lower public profile compared to peers while actively diversifying their investment portfolio across different stages and verticals.

Addressing AI risk concerns during an interview, Parekh—who serves on the board of NYU Langone—pointed out how AI is already transforming patient care by analyzing 50 million records to assess health risks. He emphasized that scaling healthcare through AI is essential given the aging global population and the shortage of medical professionals.

Insight Partners operates across multiple stages including early-stage, growth, buyouts, and secondaries. Despite the temptation to chase high-flying AI pure-plays, Parekh noted that historical data does not support excessive concentration risk over the long term, even though a heavily concentrated strategy has worked well for select funds.

"In this particular moment, if 25% of our fund were in Anthropic, our returns would look better. But data over time doesn’t support excessive concentration."

Devin Parekh

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

Demonstrating the value of persistence, Parekh shared the story of Armis. Although Insight lost the initial deal to Sequoia Capital, they kept the relationship alive with a $5 million check, eventually buying out the cap table and selling the security company to ServiceNow this year for a staggering $7 billion.

Source: TechCrunch