John DeLoche is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Invictus Growth Partners and a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. He has three decades of experience in technology investing and finance, with a focus on enterprise artificial intelligence, cloud software, cybersecurity, financial technology, and other high-growth sectors.
John currently serves on the boards of Axiad, Binary Defense, Channelscaler, CYPHER Learning, InformedIQ, LinkLive, Novi Labs, PeerSpot, Structured, and ThreatModeler.
Before founding Invictus, John was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Pilot Growth Equity, where he developed the firm’s strategy of investing in the first institutional growth rounds of technology companies in cloud software, cybersecurity, and healthcare IT. At Pilot Growth, he led investments in Bizzabo (acquired by Insight Partners), CB Insights, Counsyl (acquired by Myriad Genetics), and Zenedge (acquired by Oracle).
Previously, John founded Bluebird Capital, a San Francisco-based investment and advisory firm focused on enterprise technology companies using artificial intelligence. While at Bluebird, he acquired C-Legal and served on its board through its acquisition by Ernst & Young.
Earlier in his career, John was a Principal at Bridgescale Partners, a Menlo Park-based private equity firm. There, he completed investments in leading technology companies including Proofpoint (Nasdaq: PFPT), Jasper (acquired by Cisco), Plum (acquired by Campbell), Open-Silicon (acquired by Bank Alkhair), BlueCat Networks (acquired by Madison Dearborn Partners), and BitGo (NYSE: BTGO), among others.
John began his career as a founding member of Credit Suisse First Boston’s Technology Group, working in the firm’s New York, Tokyo, and Palo Alto offices. During his investment banking career, he advised on more than 100 mergers, acquisitions, and financing transactions with an aggregate value exceeding $25 billion.
John previously served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Signal Corps. He is also committed to supporting the fight against cancer and has been recognized as a top fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training across multiple triathlon events spanning more than a decade.
John speaks Japanese and German and earned an A.B. with honors from the University of Chicago.