Ready to ‘Give Back’ after Building NEA Into One of the World’s Largest VC Firms
The Hellenic Initiative (THI) is pleased to announce that noted venture capitalist Peter Barris has joined its Board of Directors. Founded in 2012, THI is a global non-profit organization that brings together Diaspora Greeks and Philhellenes to invest in Greece today through programs focused on economic development and crisis relief. Since its founding, THI has invested approximately $20 million and is the largest Greek Diaspora organization in the world.
Barris now serves as Chairman of New Enterprise Associates (NEA) after his remarkable tenure as the firm’s Managing General Partner from 1999-2017, during which NEA’s assets under management grew from $1B to over $20B. When Mr. Barris retired in 2019, NEA had become one of the world’s largest venture capital firms.
Under his leadership, NEA invested in industry-transforming technology companies like CareerBuilder, Tableau, Groupon, Jet.com, Juniper Networks, Salesforce.com, TiVo, WebMD, and Workday. He has been named several times to the Forbes Midas List of top technology investors, to Washington Tech Council’s Hall of Fame, and to the Washington Business Hall of Fame.
He serves on the board of public companies Berkshire Grey (BGRY), Groupon (GRPN), NextNav (NN) and Sprout Social (SPT), and is currently director of several private companies including Tamr, Tempus, ThreatQuotient, and ZeroFox.
Barris grew up in Chicago, IL, graduated from Northwestern University and earned his MBA at Dartmouth College.
He began his career in various management positions at General Electric Company where he spent almost a decade. Prior to joining NEA, Peter was President of LEGENT Corporation (LGNT) and Senior Vice President of the Systems Software Division of UCCEL Corporation (UCE). Both companies were ultimately acquired at valuations that were record-breaking for their time.
His philanthropic endeavors include being Vice-Chair of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees, where he will become Chairman of the Board on September 1. Barris also serves on the boards of the Brookings Institution, P33, and In-Q-Tel. Peter previously served on the Executive Committee of the Board of the National Venture Capital Association, the Tuck School Board of Overseers, and was a founding member of Venture Philanthropy Partners, a philanthropic organization in the Washington, DC
area. Active in the Greek-American community, Barris is a member of Leadership 100 and an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Barris and his wife, Adrienne, reside in McLean, VA and are long-time members of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bethesda, MD. They have two married daughters who also reside in the Washington DC area.
George Stamas, THI Board President, stated: Peter Barris is an inspiration to both Hellenes of the Diaspora and young entrepreneurs in Greece. Taking his firm to the very global pinnacle in the competitive Venture Capital field has prepared him to make great contributions to our efforts to build the New Greece.
Peter Barris stated: THI was a fledgling start-up just 10 years ago. It is truly amazing what has been accomplished through THI over that decade in support of Greece. I look forward to contributing to its further growth and impact over the next decade.