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Profile
Thoma Bravo is the world’s largest technology buyout firm, with a 40+ year history and approximately $181 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2025. Through its private equity and credit strategies, the firm invests in growth-oriented, innovative companies operating in the software and technology sectors. The firm has acquired or invested in over 555 software and technology companies representing approximately $285 billion of value.* Its investment philosophy is centered around working collaboratively with existing management teams to help drive operating results and innovation. Leveraging its deep sector knowledge and strategic and operational expertise, the firm executes through a partnership-driven approach supported by a set of management principles, operating metrics, and business processes. Thoma Bravo supports its companies by investing in growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions designed to drive long-term value.
*includes control and non-control investments
Awards
2025 Top Private Equity Firms, Top Software Investors, Top Private Credit Firms, Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors
2024 Top Growth Equity Firms, Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Top Private Debt Firms, Top Software Investors, Top Private Equity Firms
2023 Top Growth Equity Firms, Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Top Private Debt Firms, Top Software Investors, Top Private Equity Firms, Top Women Leaders
2022 Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Top Software Investors, Top Private Equity Firms, Top Women Leaders
2021 Top Growth Equity Firms, Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors, Top Software Investors, Top Private Equity Firms
2020 Top Software Investors
2019 Top Software Investors
Features
Leading Growth Investor: Thoma Bravo’s Ross Devor
GrowthCap’s RJ Lumba spoke with Ross Devor on April 24, 2024. Ross is a Partner at Thoma Bravo and co-heads the firm’s growth equity platform, focusing on minority investments in high-growth software and technology companies.
Top Software Investor: Thoma Bravo’s Tre Sayle
GrowthCap’s RJ Lumba spoke with Tre Sayle on June 6, 2022. Tre is a Partner at Thoma Bravo, where he leads the firm’s growth investment strategy and has been involved in numerous software investments over his career.
Key People
Orlando Bravo, Founder and Managing Partner
Orlando Bravo is a Founder and Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo. He led Thoma Bravo’s early entry into software buyouts and built the firm into one of the top private equity firms in the world. Today, Orlando directs the firm’s strategy and investment decisions in accordance with its principles of partnership, innovation, and performance. Orlando graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Brown University in 1992 and earned a JD from Stanford Law School and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1998. He is also the Founder and Chairman of the Bravo Family Foundation, which provides access and opportunities to young adults in Puerto Rico.
Carl Thoma, Founder and Managing Partner
Carl D. Thoma is a Founder and Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. He was a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner and its predecessor funds since 1980. He began his career at First Chicago Equity Group where he helped build one of the largest and most active private equity firms in the country. Carl received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS degree in Accounting and Agriculture Economics from Oklahoma State University.
Holden Spaht, Managing Partner
Holden Spaht is a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. Since joining the firm in 2005, he has played a key role in the firm’s growth and success in software private equity. Holden is responsible for co-leading the firm’s application software strategy, and currently sits on the boards of Anaplan, Auctane, Bottomline Technologies, Conga, Coupa Software, and Nasdaq. He was a Fulbright Scholar and earned his BA degree in Economics at Dartmouth and his MBA at Harvard Business School.
Seth Bor, Managing Partner
Seth Boro is a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. Since joining in 2005, he has been instrumental in managing the firm and supporting its growth and success across the software and technology space. Seth leads Thoma Bravo’s infrastructure software and cybersecurity strategy, and currently serves on the boards of Calabrio, ConnectWise, Darktrace, Flexera, Hyland, LogRhythm, Ping Identity, Proofpoint, Qlik, SailPoint and Sophos. Seth earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University School of Business and his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Scott Crabill, Managing Partner
Scott Crabill is a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. Since joining in 2002, he has played a critical role in the firm’s growth and evolution into one of the world’s largest software investors. Scott is responsible for co-leading Thoma Bravo’s application software investing efforts, and currently sits on the boards of ABC Fitness Solutions, Imprivata, J.D. Power, Medallia, QAD, Quorum and RealPage. Scott received his BS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
A.J. Rohde, Senior Partner
A.J. Rohde is a Senior Partner at Thoma Bravo. Since joining in 2010, he has been instrumental in expanding the firm’s investment platforms and global reach. A.J. founded and leads Thoma Bravo’s Discover platform, which focuses on middle-market software and technology companies, and also oversees the firm’s Europe platform. He currently sits on the boards of Command Alkon, CompTIA, Delinea, Eptura, HCSS, Majesco, Mercell, MeridianLink, Motus, Nearmap, NextGen Healthcare and UserTesting. A.J. holds a BA in Economics from Villanova University, where he was captain of the Division I tennis team, and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School.
Jennifer James, Managing Partner
Jennifer James is Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Investor Relations & Marketing at Thoma Bravo. Jennifer leads Thoma Bravo’s business operations strategy, efforts to serve the needs of new and existing investors, and the firm’s industry communications programs. Over the last decade, Jennifer has played a pivotal role in scaling Thoma Bravo from under $8.3B to approximately $184B+ in AUM (as of March 31, 2025), while shaping the investor experience behind one of private equity’s most successful growth stories. She earned her MBA from Northwestern University and her AB degree in History from Bowdoin College.
Funds Raised
Thoma Bravo has experienced exceptional growth over the past 20+ years, from less than $5 billion in capital commitments in 2012 to approximately $184 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2025. Today, the firm’s software portfolio includes over 75 companies that generate around $30 billion in annual revenue and employ more than 93,000 people worldwide.*
In June 2025, Thoma Bravo announced the completion of its largest fundraise to date: $34.4 billion across three equity funds, demonstrating investor confidence in the firm’s long-term strategy and enhancing its ability to make further software investments across cybersecurity, infrastructure, and applications, including healthcare, IT, edtech, and fintech, among others. Additionally, in December 2022, Thoma Bravo announced the close of its fundraise of more than $32.4 billion in capital commitments for its three buyout funds. The firm is currently ranked #4 on Private Equity International’s list of the 300 largest private equity firms globally and #3 on Buyouts’ list of the 100 largest PE firms in North America.
*includes control and non-control investments, as of March 31, 2025
Key Investments
OPEXUS and Casepoint: Invested January 27, 2025
Sector: Software
Leading provider of government process management software and industry leader in data discovery technology for litigation, investigations, and data compliance.
USU Product Business: Invested December 4, 2024
Sector: Software
Leading provider of IT management solutions.
Veriforce: Exited December 2, 2024
Sector: Software
Global provider of supply chain risk management (“SCRM”) solutions.
Instructure: Exited November 13, 2024
Sector: Software
Global provider of learning management, education-tech effectiveness and credentialing solutions, Instructure provides an ecosystem of products that enhance the lives and outcomes of students, professional learners and educators.
Darktrace: Invested October 1, 2024
Sector: Software
Global leader in cybersecurity artificial intelligence.
TRADER Corporation: Exited August 16, 2024
Sector: Software
TRADER Corporation is Canada’s largest digital automotive marketplace and provides the most comprehensive set of marketing software solutions to Canadian automotive dealers.
Everbridge: Invested July 2, 2024
Sector: Software
Global leader in critical event management and national public warning solutions
EQS: Invested February 2, 2024
Sector: Software
A German-based cloud provider in the fields of corporate compliance, investor relations and ESG
BlueMatrix: Invested January 4, 2024
Sector: Software
Leading end-to-end content creation and distribution platform for investment research providers.
Exostar: Exited November 20, 2023
Sector: Software
Leading cloud-based secure business collaboration software provider serving highly regulated industries including aerospace and defense, healthcare and life sciences, and banking, financial services and insurance.
Adenza: Exited November 1, 2023
Sector: Software
Provider of mission-critical risk management, regulatory reporting, and capital markets software to the financial services industry
ForgeRock and Ping Identity: Invested August 23, 2023
Sector: Software
A leader in securing digital identities for the world’s largest enterprises
Syntellis Performance Solutions: Exited August 8, 2023
Sector: Software
Leading provider of enterprise performance management (EPM) software, data and intelligence solutions
Imperva: Exited December 4, 2023
Sector: Software
Leading global provider of best-in-class cybersecurity solutions on-premises, in the cloud and across hybrid environments
Capital Responsibility
Thoma Bravo believes that part of creating value involves the consideration of factors such as regulatory developments, market expectations, and reputational and operational risks and opportunities—many of which have traditionally been covered under the umbrella concept of Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”). For the software and technology companies in its portfolio, Thoma Bravo has found that these factors converge around five key focus areas: (i) cybersecurity and data privacy, (ii) artificial intelligence, (iii) operations and oversight, (iv) human capital, and (v) sustainability and stewardship. During the investment cycle, the RGo team collaborates with investment teams and portfolio companies to identify and improve performance on these five factors. These areas form part of the foundation of how the firm seeks to drive performance, manage risk, and build long-term resilience across its portfolio.
Thoma Bravo published its first ESG report in 2018. Since then, the ESG landscape has matured, and the firm has continued to evolve its approach. To better reflect that evolution, Thoma Bravo is transforming its ESG strategy into Responsible Growth and Governance (“RGo”). The firm believes this change better captures the complex, interconnected factors that can shape the performance of software and technology companies and reinforces its view that value creation is inseparable from responsible business practices and strong governance.
Diving deeper into one focus area, artificial intelligence (AI), Thoma Bravo sees AI and generative AI as part of the next phase of the software and technology industry’s growth. The firm believes that a key to building a winning strategy with AI is strong AI governance. In May 2024, in Miami, Thoma Bravo hosted a summit focused on AI. The event brought together senior leaders, portfolio company executives, and industry experts to discuss how AI can help grow software companies while maintaining appropriate governance measures. Topics included the high-level opportunities and potential implications of AI, as well as AI case studies, with a focus on balancing innovation and risk.
This work is led by Thoma Bravo’s Head of Responsible Growth and Governance, Donna Riley Bebb. Since joining in 2022, she has helped create a more robust RGo framework and served as an adviser on Thoma Bravo’s portfolio companies’ responsible growth and governance practices. She regularly provides thought leadership on the opportunities that RGo presents for value creation at industry events, including the PEI Responsible Investment Forum and the Women’s Private Equity Summit.
CEO Reviews
Andre Durand, CEO and Founder, Ping Identity
“To see that [Thoma Bravo was] personally involved and then see, okay, we now have a moment of opportunity together, where privately, we can do some things together that Ping didn’t have the balance sheet for, nor were we capable of that level of risk appetite, obviously, to combine companies as we did post the, take private, if you will.
But that enticed me. I’m looking for non-linear ways in which to progress. And you know there’s a bit of stars alignment in that but ultimately it was risk appetite and the skill set to actually go make good on that and, and I could see that through the determination and the follow through that you had.”
Leagh Turner, CEO, Coupa
“I mean to say it surpassed my expectations would be an understatement, and I’m not saying that to just be kind. I found you folks to be exactly as people would expect: factually, really deep, anecdotally deep, like meaning not just knowing the facts but understanding why they are what they are, very clear-sighted, really consistent. That was my experience. I found every time I got on the phone I didn’t hear a variation of a different story or a variation even of the same story. It was like the same concrete understanding, uh, very steady, very calm.”
Mike Capone, CEO, Qlik
“I’d say the first thing that Thoma Bravo brought me was just a steady hand and just a great North Star, right? I never felt like I was alone in any of this. There was just a great group of investors, operating partners that you could lean on in turbulent times to actually muscle through some of these really difficult challenges. So that was really important.
[…] I’d say the most important thing though is like deal making. So I get such amazing support you know. But, you know, terrific helping our source deals, helping us finance deals with the cap markets team, the diligence, etc. We’ve in parallel built a muscle to integrate acquisitions quickly, so it’s super complementary. We get the deal done, we all have confidence we can make it work and then we go from there. So that part is amazing.
[…] And all that adds up to and why, honestly, I don’t think I could ever go work in a public company again and why I love working with Thoma Bravo and private equity is because we make decisions. You know, we’re decisive and it’s just a pleasure to work in an environment where you have a board that’s so supportive and we just decide and we go. Violent execution. As a CEO, you can’t ask for better.”
