Private equity firm Elevation Partners has appointed Avadis “Avie” Tevanian as a managing director.
Tevanian (pictured) brings to Elevation more than two decades of operational and software expertise in consumer and technology businesses.
Most recently, Tevanian was chief software technology officer at Apple and a member of the company’s senior management team, where he led Apple’s software strategy and development.
Fred Anderson, managing director and co-founder of Elevation, says: "Avie and I worked closely together at Apple for many years and I have always admired his engineering talent and leadership, his strategic vision for how software can transform businesses and his ability to execute on that vision. We are proud that he has decided to join Elevation and believe he will be a huge asset as we explore new investment opportunities.”
Tevanian adds: "Elevation Partners has put together an impressive investment team with the technological expertise and operational experience to identify future opportunities and implement change within existing businesses to seize those opportunities. This is just one of the many reasons I am excited to join Fred and the rest of the Elevation team.”
As a managing director, Tevanian will assist Elevation in the evaluation of new investment opportunities, advise those companies and help drive the strategy of the firm.
Tevanian spent nearly ten years at Apple. Prior to serving as chief software technology officer, he was senior vice president of software engineering, where he led the software engineering team that developed OS X, the operating system that powers many Apple products including desktops, notebooks, servers, the iPhone and the iPod Touch.
Earlier in his career, Tevanian was vice president of software engineering at Next Computer and was responsible for managing Next’s software engineering department and the NextStep operating system.
Tevanian currently serves on the board of directors at Dolby Laboratories and is a former board member of Tellme Networks, an internet telecom company acquired by Microsoft.
