Insight Partners maintains diversified AI investment strategy — TechCrunch
In New York, Devin Parekh, who has co-managed investment firm Insight Partners for 26 years, said the firm, which has $90 billion in assets under management, does not plan to overconcentrate on OpenAI and Anthropic despite the massive influx of venture capital into these artificial intelligence developers. He said this in an interview with TechCrunch.
A bet on a portfolio approach
According to Parekh, OpenAI and Anthropic attracted approximately half of all venture investments in the first half of the year. At the same time, Insight Partners adheres to a diversified strategy because, in Parekh's view, it is more effective over the long term. He noted that some funds now offer investors the option of allocating 35–40% of their capital to one of these two companies.
Parekh acknowledged that under current conditions, a larger share of Anthropic in the portfolio could improve the fund's returns. However, he said historical data does not support excessive concentration. He added that some funds, including Founders Fund and Thrive, have succeeded with concentrated strategies, but called them exceptions.
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Investments in competitors
Insight Partners holds stakes in both OpenAI and Anthropic. Parekh explained that at later stages, when an investor does not sit on the board of directors and does not influence corporate governance, investments in competing companies are viewed differently. At the Series A and Series B stages, he said, the company applies restrictions on information sharing and does not invest in directly competing projects.
He also warned against the rapid rise in startup valuations, comparing the current pace with 2021. According to him, subsequent funding rounds often happen so quickly that investors pay more without receiving materially new data that could reduce risk. In response, the firm makes smaller early investments and subsequently increases its investments in the most successful companies.
Liquidity for investors
Parekh said that over the past two years, Insight Partners has returned more than $20 billion to its investors through strategic sales and IPOs. He emphasized the importance of liquidity: funds should partially lock in profits even if they expect an asset's value to rise further. According to him, many funds have raised significant amounts of money but have not yet returned it to their investors.
