Insightpool CEO, Devon Wijesinghe, is a serial entrepreneur and investor with a résumé that would take most an entire lifetime to accumulate. A star student at Kennesaw State University, he dropped out in his teens to found his first company, e-VERIFILE. Devon turned it into one of the largest privately held data software companies in the nation and its profitable exit won Deal of the Year while Devon was still in his twenties. He also was named the most powerful person in Atlanta business under 30 by the Apex Society.
Today, Wijesinghe is continuing to make waves in Atlanta’s technology community. He is a part of the Atlanta CEO Council, an exclusive organization comprised of more than 1000 CEOs and senior executives from across the Southeast. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Triple Threat Strategies, which invests capital and time into young companies to build them into successful enterprises. On top of all of that he is also a mentor at ATDC. Wijesinghe is arguably one of the only people in the city (especially at his age) with such an intimate knowledge of both the startup and fundraising worlds. We recently chatted with Devon to learn more about his current role at Insightpool, his thoughts on the Atlanta tech scene, and what’s next for him.
Insightpool helps marketers identify influencers and powers them to nurture the right relationships that will drive measurable revenue and results. Founded in 2012 by Wijesinghe, Adam Wexler, Matt Smith, and Adam Blaschke, the solution is used by the Atlanta Hawks, IHG, and UPS, just to name a few. They ‘mine social networks’ with an algorithm that has over 60 variables to find influencers, scanning 350 million people every 15 minutes. In 2014, the company raised $4 million in series A funding, and earlier this year they were awarded the Top Startup Award in the 51 to 250 employees category by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
When it comes to Georgia’s capital, Devon has strong feelings about the city he calls home. “Atlanta is an undervalued asset and is willing to swing for the fences,” boasts Wijesinghe. “We’re re-engaging our success in a way that we weren’t before.” An entrepreneur and investor with a keen eye for success, his favorite local startup is Yik Yak. “I think a lot could ride on them,” he says. “They have stayed incredibly focused on the fact that they really haven’t built the end result yet.”
When choosing companies to invest in, Wijesinghe focuses on the team’s talent and how large the problem is that’s being solved. His advice for young people? “Start early. The youth feel like they have so much time on their hands. They say, ‘Someday I’ll…’ Don’t wait; learn by doing. The mental capacity is there” he asserts.
What’s next for Devon (other than killing it at Insightpool)? His current pet peeve is the inefficiency in restaurants. He’s brainstorming a mobile app to possibly solve this pain point. We look forward to keeping an eye on Devon and his continued success in the ATL.
