Technology-focused private equity firm

Francisco Partners

At a glance

Latest fundFrancisco Partners VIII and Francisco Partners Agility IV (combined close), $21B (Jul 2026) S6
Deal typesPlatform, Add-on, Minority, Growth S4
GeographyNorth America, Europe and Middle East, Asia-Pacific S4
SectorsSoftware & SaaS, Cybersecurity, Education

What Francisco Partners buys

Francisco Partners is a San Francisco firm that invests only in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since starting in 1999 it has raised more than $75 billion and backed more than 500 technology companies. Its private equity portfolio is grouped into healthcare technology, education technology, financial technology, industrial and vertical market software, security and infrastructure software, communications, consumer technology and tech-enabled services. It buys founder-owned companies, carves divisions out of large corporations, takes public companies private, and also takes minority and growth stakes.

It is a large-deal buyer. The firm puts its transaction values at $100 million to several billion dollars, and recent examples include the $2.2 billion Jamf take-private and the roughly $650 million Weave deal. In July 2026 it closed $21 billion across its flagship Fund VIII and Agility IV, its middle-market fund. It publishes no revenue or EBITDA minimum. A small software company is most likely to meet Francisco Partners as an add-on to one of its platforms, which together have made more than 310 acquisitions.

Recent deals

Announced in the 24 months before October 22, 2026.

DateCompanyTypeSectorSource
Sep 2026RightwayLed a $155 million Series E round for the pharmacy benefit and care navigation companyGrowthHealthcare ServicesSource
Aug 2026WeaveAgreed take-private of the patient engagement and payments software maker at about $650 million of equity valuePlatformSoftware & SaaSSource
Aug 2026MonerisAgreed to buy the Canadian payments company from BMO and RBC for about C$2.0 billionPlatformSource
Aug 2026Command AlkonAgreed to buy a majority stake in the building materials software company from Thoma Bravo; Heidelberg Materials keeps a minority stakePlatformSoftware & SaaSSource
Jul 2026Francisco Partners VIII and Agility IV$21 billion closed across the flagship fund and the middle-market Agility fund, above initial targetsFund closeSource
Jun 2026EfficientIPBought the Paris network infrastructure and DNS security company; the founders reinvested and the CEO staysPlatformCybersecuritySource
Apr 2026Blackline SafetyAgreed take-private of the Calgary connected worker safety company for up to $850 millionPlatformSoftware & SaaSSource
Mar 2026KobaltAgreed sale of the music publishing platform to Primary Wave MusicExitSource
Jan 2026STARLIMSExited the laboratory software company as Turn/River Capital investedExitSoftware & SaaSSource
Jan 2026Avalon Healthcare SolutionsAdded to its stake as WindRose Health Investors invested in the lab benefit management companyInvestmentHealthcare ServicesSource
Nov 2025OEConnectionAgreed to buy a majority stake in the automotive parts and repair software platform from Genstar CapitalPlatformSoftware & SaaSSource
Oct 2025JamfAgreed $2.2 billion take-private of the Apple device management and security companyPlatformCybersecuritySource
Aug 2025iconectivCompleted sale to Koch Equity Development, alongside EricssonExitSource
Aug 2025SourcescrubSold the deal-sourcing data company to DatasiteExitSoftware & SaaSSource
Aug 2025EliteAgreed to buy the legal software and payments company from TPG and Thomson ReutersPlatformSoftware & SaaSSource
Jul 2025Orchard SoftwareSold the laboratory information system company to ClinisysExitSoftware & SaaSSource
Apr 2025Office AllyReinvested alongside management as New Mountain Capital made a growth investmentInvestmentSoftware & SaaSSource
Mar 2025Quorum SoftwareAgreed to buy the energy industry software providerPlatformSoftware & SaaSSource
Feb 2025EdifecsAgreed sale of the healthcare data interoperability company to CotivitiExitSoftware & SaaSSource
Nov 2024EviteGrowth investment in the digital invitations platform; the CEO stays on as a significant ownerGrowthSource
Oct 2024AdvancedMDAgreed carve-out of the medical office software company from Global PaymentsPlatformSoftware & SaaSSource

Portfolio by sector

From the firm's portfolio page S4.

Communications Technology

  • GoTo
  • LiveU

Consumer Technology

  • Evite
  • Glorious
  • LegalZoom
  • Muse Group
  • MyFitnessPal
  • MyHeritage
  • News Break
  • NZXT
  • Pet Circle
  • The Weather Company

Education Technology

  • Aeries Software
  • BARBRI
  • Civitas Learning
  • Discovery Education
  • Follett Software
  • Litmos
  • Renaissance
  • Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI)
  • VitalSource

ERP & Business Intelligence

  • GainSystems
  • Greenslate
  • Payscale

Financial Technology

  • Betterment
  • Drawbridge
  • Dynamo
  • Macrobond
  • NMI
  • Paysafe
  • Prosper
  • TS Imagine
  • Verifone

Healthcare

  • AdvancedMD
  • AndHealth
  • Avalon
  • bswift
  • GoodRx
  • Merative
  • Office Ally
  • RedSail Technologies
  • Symplr

Industrial & Manufacturing

  • Capsa Healthcare

Industrial Software

  • Blackline Safety
  • Command Alkon
  • EG
  • Jama Software
  • Keyloop
  • OEConnection
  • Orisha
  • Quorum Software
  • Vendavo
  • Veson Nautical

Security & Infrastructure

  • BeyondTrust
  • Black Duck
  • Blancco
  • Boomi
  • EfficientIP
  • Forcepoint
  • Jamf
  • LastPass
  • Lucidworks
  • New Relic
  • Perforce
  • Redis
  • SmartBear
  • SonicWall
  • Sumo Logic

Semis & Systems

  • OpenTech

Tech-Enabled Services

  • RBmedia
  • Thinventory

Vertical Market Software

  • Accela
  • Elite
  • nShift
  • Operative
  • Paradigm

Past investments: Kobalt, SourceScrub, STARLIMS

Greymont’s take

How Francisco Partners fits a seller

Francisco Partners suits owners of software or tech-enabled service companies with recurring revenue and a product a larger platform could use. Few lower middle market owners will sell to it directly, because its new platforms usually carry values in the hundreds of millions or more. The realistic path is a sale to one of its portfolio companies, such as Elite in legal software, AdvancedMD in medical office software or Command Alkon in building materials software.

When it partners with founders, it often asks them to stay invested: the EfficientIP founders reinvested in June 2026, and Evite's CEO kept a significant stake in 2024. An owner should ask which pool of capital is buying (the flagship fund, the Agility fund or a portfolio company) and how any rolled equity would be treated when Francisco Partners sells.

Questions owners ask

What size of company does Francisco Partners buy?

Its About page puts transaction values between $100 million and several billion dollars. Recent deals include Jamf at about $2.2 billion and Blackline Safety at up to $850 million, so smaller companies usually meet it as add-ons to existing platforms.

Does Francisco Partners invest outside software?

It invests only in technology and tech-enabled businesses, but that range is wide: payments companies such as Moneris, pharmacy benefits firm Rightway, consumer gaming hardware brands NZXT and Glorious, and tech-enabled services businesses such as Thinventory.

Do founders keep a stake after a Francisco Partners deal?

Often. In the June 2026 EfficientIP acquisition the three founders reinvested and the CEO stayed in place, and Evite's chief executive remained a significant shareholder after the firm's 2024 growth investment.

Does Francisco Partners only make control buyouts?

No. Its investment list includes minority stakes such as LegalZoom and Lucidworks, and it led Rightway's $155 million Series E round in September 2026. It also reinvested in Office Ally in 2025 when New Mountain Capital came in.

Sources

  1. S1Francisco Partners home page Accessed October 22, 2026
  2. S2Francisco Partners: About Accessed October 22, 2026
  3. S3Francisco Partners: Private Equity strategy Accessed October 22, 2026
  4. S4Francisco Partners: Investments Accessed October 22, 2026
  5. S5Francisco Partners: Media Accessed October 22, 2026
  6. S6Francisco Partners Closes $21 Billion Across Flagship and Agility Funds (July 23, 2026) Accessed October 22, 2026
  7. S7Francisco Partners Mourns the Passing of Co-Founder Sandy Robertson (August 3, 2024) Accessed October 22, 2026
  8. S8Francisco Partners Acquires EfficientIP (June 16, 2026) Accessed October 22, 2026
  9. S9Evite Announces Strategic Growth Investment from Francisco Partners (November 1, 2024) Accessed October 22, 2026
  10. S10Jamf Enters into Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Francisco Partners (October 29, 2025) Accessed October 22, 2026
  11. S11Francisco Partners Announces Final Closing of $3.3 Billion Third Credit Fund (January 23, 2025) Accessed October 22, 2026

Compiled by Greymont Advisors from public sources, including the firm’s own website and press releases. Greymont is not affiliated with Francisco Partners. Figures are as reported on the dates shown and may have changed. Request a correction

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