# Dan Levine
Dan Levine (Daniel Mark Levine) is an American venture capital investor at Accel, where he was a partner from January 2015 to May 2026 and is best known for early positions in [Scale AI](https://www.edgepedia.org/scale-ai), Vercel, Sentry, Mux, and Whimsical.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) He first joined Accel in 2010 as an associate, spent just over two years on Dropbox's platform team, and returned to Accel as a partner in 2015.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) • [3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) In 2026 he stepped back from his operating role at the firm and continues to sit on boards and work with existing investments.[4](https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/exclusive-scale-investor-dan-levine-steps-back-accel) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine)
| | |
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| **Firm and role** | Accel; associate Oct 2010–Dec 2012, partner Jan 2015–May 2026, now boards only[2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) • [1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) |
| **Before Accel** | Dropbox platform team (Nov 2012–Dec 2014); co-founder of Chartio; CrunchBase at TechCrunch[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) • [3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) |
| **Education** | Yale, 2005–2009[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) |
| **Notable investments** | Scale, Vercel, Sentry, Mux, Gem, Whimsical, ReadMe, Sprig, Monarch Money, Val Town, Minoan, Thinking Machines[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) |
| **Best-known outcomes** | Meta's $14.3 billion Scale stake (June 2025); Vercel at $9.3 billion (Aug 2025); Sentry at $3 billion; Gem at $1.2 billion; Mux at $1 billion[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) |
| **Boards** | Sentry, Scale AI, Mux, Gem, ReadMe, Vercel, Sprig, Whimsical, Val Town, Minoan, Kernel[2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) |
| **Other roles** | NVCA board member, June 2021–June 2025[2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) |
## Career and education
Levine graduated from Yale, where he studied from 2005 to 2009, and is from Washington, DC.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) He worked on CrunchBase at [TechCrunch](https://www.edgepedia.org/techcrunch) before co-founding Chartio, a [Y Combinator](https://www.edgepedia.org/y-combinator)-backed (S10) data-visualization startup.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) Chartio was acquired by [Atlassian](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlassian) in 2021.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/)
His investing career began at Accel as an associate in October 2010. He left in December 2012 to join Dropbox's platform team, where he stayed until December 2014, and re-joined Accel as a partner in January 2015.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) • [3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) In a podcast interview he described this same path, from Crunchbase to Chartio to Accel, Dropbox, and Accel again.[5](https://syntax.fm/show/906/tech-startups-and-raising-money-with-dan-levine-vercel-sentry-mux/transcript)
## Role at Accel and investment focus
Accel describes his focus as product-first startups aimed at consumers, developers, and bottoms-up business users.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) On the Syntax podcast he said he invests primarily at the seed stage: "we invest primarily at the seed industry today. That's where I spend my time."[5](https://syntax.fm/show/906/tech-startups-and-raising-money-with-dan-levine-vercel-sentry-mux/transcript) The firm lists his portfolio as Gem, Minoan, Monarch Money, Mux, ReadMe.io, Scale, Sentry, Sprig, Thinking Machines, Val Town, Vercel, and Whimsical.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine)
## Notable investments and board seats
**Scale AI** is among his best-known positions. According to Forbes, he led multiple of the data-labeling company's funding rounds and its very first office was in Levine's basement; his LinkedIn states he has sat on its board since August 2016.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) In June 2025, Meta invested $14.3 billion to buy a major stake in the business.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/)
**Vercel** was valued at $9.3 billion in an August 2025 round co-led by Accel, the highest valuation Forbes reports for any of his companies. His LinkedIn states he joined its board in October 2018,[2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) and Forbes reports the coding startup was valued at $9.3 billion in an August 2025 round co-led by Accel.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) Accel announced a Series F investment in Vercel on September 30, 2025.[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine)
His other long-held developer-tool positions include **Sentry** (board since June 2015 per his LinkedIn; valued at $3 billion per Forbes), **Mux** (board since December 2016; valued at $1 billion), **Gem** (board since August 2017; valued at $1.2 billion), and **Whimsical** (board since November 2021).[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) His LinkedIn also lists board seats at ReadMe (since April 2019), Sprig (since November 2020), Val Town (since August 2022), Minoan (since January 2023), and Kernel.[2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine)
Two earlier positions ended in acquisitions: his EdgeDB board seat closed in December 2025 when the company was acquired by Vercel, and his own startup Chartio was bought by Atlassian in 2021.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine)
## By the numbers
- **Scale AI**: Meta invested $14.3 billion for a major stake in June 2025.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/)
- **Vercel**: $9.3 billion valuation in an August 2025 round co-led by Accel, followed by a Series F announced September 30, 2025.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) • [1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine)
- **Sentry**: $3 billion valuation.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/)
- **Gem**: $1.2 billion valuation.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/)
- **Mux**: $1 billion valuation.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/)
## Recent developments
The 2024–2025 period reshaped his two flagship positions. Scale AI took Meta's $14.3 billion investment in June 2025,[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) and Vercel revalued to $9.3 billion in August 2025 with Accel co-leading, then raised its Series F that September.[3](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/) • [1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine) Accel's page shows a steady run of new deals: Kernel (announced October 9, 2025), Flint (October 14, 2025), and Paper, described as the AI-native design space (July 23, 2026).[1](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine)
In May 2026 he ended his eleven-year partner tenure. His own profile states he is "no longer leading new investments at Accel. Sitting on boards and continuing to work with existing investments," and [The Information](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-information) reported the step-back from his operating role while noting he remains a Scale investor.[4](https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/exclusive-scale-investor-dan-levine-steps-back-accel) • [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine) His NVCA board term had already ended in June 2025.[2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine)
## Public positions and writing
Levine has written publicly on developer infrastructure, including a TechCrunch essay under his own byline, "APIs are the next big SaaS wave" (September 6, 2019).[6](https://techcrunch.com/author/daniel-levine/) He has discussed the seed and Series A market on the 20VC podcast, including pre-emptive rounds and multi-stage funds entering seed.[7](https://20vc.substack.com/p/20vc-accels-dan-levine-on-the-current-bf8) On boards, he has argued for taking strong companies public: "if a company intrinsically can go public and should go public, then I do think it's my job to encourage that on behalf of not just Vercel, but also, like, all the other shareholders."[5](https://syntax.fm/show/906/tech-startups-and-raising-money-with-dan-levine-vercel-sentry-mux/transcript)
## References
1. [Daniel Levine — Accel Team Page](https://www.accel.com/team/daniel-levine)
2. [Dan Levine — LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmarklevine)
3. [Daniel Levine — Forbes Profile](https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-levine/)
4. [Exclusive: Scale Investor Dan Levine Steps Back From Accel — The Information](https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/exclusive-scale-investor-dan-levine-steps-back-accel)
5. [Syntax #906 transcript — Dan Levine on startups and fundraising](https://syntax.fm/show/906/tech-startups-and-raising-money-with-dan-levine-vercel-sentry-mux/transcript)
6. [Daniel Levine, Author at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/author/daniel-levine/)
7. [20VC: Accel's Dan Levine on The Current State of Seed & Series A](https://20vc.substack.com/p/20vc-accels-dan-levine-on-the-current-bf8)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Founders, operators, and investors › Venture and growth investors › United States venture since 1985 › Multi-stage firm partners*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license