Insight Partners, the private equity firm that owns Kaseya and Veeam, has raised $9.5 billion for Fund XI -- a new growth-equity fund designed to acquire or invest in enterprise-ready software businesses.
Fund XI is expected to invest between $10 million to $350 million of equity in target companies -- although larger transactions are also possible, Insight indicated.
The new fund arrives at a time when many private equity (PE) firms and venture capital (VC) companies are striving to protect existing investments from coronavirus-related economic fallout.
Indeed, PE firms and VCs have spent recent weeks carefully recalculating revenue and profit expectations at portfolio companies. Those portfolio firms, in turn, have been evaluating ways to realign sales, marketing, support, hiring and payroll to navigate global economic challenges.
Still, economic uncertainty could also trigger new opportunities for Insight Partners and its rivals. Valuations on some software companies could fall amid revenue and customer pressures, paving the way for Insight Partners or rival PE firms to acquiring software assets at more reasonable price tags.
Insight has invested over $19 billion in more than 400 companies since 1995. Recent investments include acquiring majority control of Veeam, and a minority stake in SentinelOne -- an endpoint protection software provider that's catching on with MSPs.
Insight Partners Fund XI: Executive Perspectives
In a statement about the new fund, Jeff Horing, Insight Partners' founder and managing director, said:
"First and foremost, we want to acknowledge the current climate and the hardships being felt across the glob. We are thankful and humbled by the support of our investors which enables us to continue to deliver world class resources during turbulent economic times. Fund XI gives us continued flexibility to provide the combination of capital and operating support that suits the different needs of every software company in a dynamic world."
Added Managing Director Deven Parekh:
"Since our first investment 25 years ago, the global software ecosystem has matured even as it continues to innovate, spurring Insight's own innovation in sourcing, and our data-driven partnership approach to working with ScaleUp companies as a minority or buyout investor. We are grateful that through economic cycles and unprecedented circumstances, Insight Partners remains a sought-after institutional platform for supporting next generation software companies."
