Dr. David Panton holds an A.B. in Public Policy from Princeton University, D.Phil. in Management Studies from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He has since gained over 18 years in investment banking, starting his career as an Associate at Morgan Stanley. 

Dr. Panton served as Chief Strategy Officer at Pensare Acquisition Corporation, which completed an acquisition in April 2020 and was renamed to American Virtual Cloud Technologies, where he is still an advisor. David is also Managing Director of Navigation Capital Partners, an Atlanta-based private equity firm that makes growth and buyout investments in middle market operating companies throughout the South. It invests through four complementary channels: direct, co-investment, secondaries, and primary funds. Its portfolio includes investments in 41 operating companies and assets under management of approximately $375 million. In 2012, Dr. Panton founded Panton Equity Partners, where he has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He has 20 years of investment banking and private equity experience and has sourced and led over 20 control transactions in various industries (including the telecom, media and technology industry) with an aggregate enterprise value of over $5 billion, including successful sales of portfolio companies to buyers such as Dell Inc., the Blackstone Group, and One Equity Partners.

In his community, he is a member of Tiger 21, Young Presidents Organization, and Leadership Atlanta (Class of 2012). He was named by Buyout Magazine as “One of Eight Buyout Pros under 40 to Watch,” and by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the, “40 Under 40,” Rising Stars. Dr. Panton is also an Adjunct Professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia, where he teaches a course on Entrepreneurial Private Equity. 

Currently, he serves as Director of Corporate and Government Relations, and leads the team in forging meaningful connections within our community.