Private equity firm Thoma Bravo on Thursday announced a strategic growth investment in machine identity solutions provider Venafi.
Exact terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but SecurityWeek has been told that Thoma Bravo has acquired a majority stake in Venafi. The deal values the company at $1.15 billion, which makes Venafi a cybersecurity “unicorn.” Previous investors, Foundation Capital and TCV, will remain shareholders.
The deal was announced nearly two years to the day after Venafi secured $100 million in a funding round led by TCV. The company says the latest funding will help it accelerate technology innovations.
Venafi offers solutions for orchestrating digital certificates and crypto keys for SSL/TLS, code signing, SSH, IoT and mobile systems. Its customers, which Venafi claims include 25 of the Fortune 50 firms, are provided visibility into machine identities and associated risks.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Venafi as they continue to lead the machine identity management market and expand their dynamic global customer base,” said Seth Boro, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo.
“Venafi created the rapidly growing machine identity management category they continue to lead, and we have watched the company’s growth accelerate as customers recognize the magnitude and complexity of their machine identity management needs. We look forward to leveraging Thoma Bravo’s operational capabilities and deep understanding of the cybersecurity market to help drive Venafi’s continued growth and market position,” Boro added.
Over the past years, Thoma Bravo has acquired many major cybersecurity firms, including Sophos ($3.9 billion), Exostar, Centrify, LogRhythm, Barracuda Networks (for $1.6 billion), Veracode (for $950 million), and Imperva ($2.1 billion).
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