Francisco Partners' $21B haul defies tech PE fundraising chill
Francisco Partners' $21B haul defies tech PE fundraising chill.
Technology-focused private equity firm Francisco Partners has bolstered its war chest by nearly a third, bucking a fundraising slowdown that has squeezed many other tech-focused managers.
The $75 billion firm amassed $21 billion across both its flagship vehicle, Francisco Partners VIII, and Francisco Partners Agility IV, a middle-market fund that targets smaller deals.
It began marketing the funds in November 2025 and held first closes in February, according to Andrew Brown, Francisco's global head of fundraising and marketing.
The flagship fund raised $16.4 billion, and the Agility fund $4.6 billion, each exceeding their targets of $14 billion and $3.5 billion.
Backers of one or both funds include the Boston Retirement System , Calpers and the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System , according to PitchBook data and public documents.
With the new funds, Francisco Partners will target companies in healthcare IT, education technology, industrial software, cybersecurity and fintech, among other sectors.
Brown said the firm sees AI as less immediately disruptive in some of these sectors, where inertia is stronger and customers are typically slower to adopt new technology due to high switching costs and regulatory barriers.
While incumbent software providers will inevitably have to adapt, Brown said they have time to fully take advantage of what AI can offer.
"Don't confuse the pace of innovation vs. the pace of adoption," he said, adding that organizations in sectors such as healthcare, education and finance typically prioritize certainty, privacy and data security.
To capture upside of both ends of that spectrum, Francisco Partners will also take positions in high-growth tech companies and back founder-owned businesses.
Francisco Partners' haul comes as the overall pace of capital allocation to technology-oriented strategies has cooled. Investors are applying greater scrutiny to software investments due to AI disruption and the inflated valuations of many deals struck during the 2020-22 era.
Thirty-eight tech-focused PE funds closed this year through the end of June, collecting a total of $26.24 billion, which is well off the pace of the $97 billion raised across 100 funds during all of 2025.
The peak year for tech PE fundraising over the last five years was 2022, when $146 billion was raised across 222 funds, according to PitchBook data.
Francisco expects to start deploying the flagship fund in the second half of this year or early next year, while the middle-market vehicle will begin being deployed around the middle of next year.
Like previous flagship funds, Francisco Partners VIII will build a portfolio of 20 to 22 companies, with check sizes concentrated between $400 million and $1 billion. The Agility strategy will invest in roughly 15 companies with checks closer to $400 million, according to Brown.
Carveouts have historically made up about 30% to 40% of the flagship fund and will remain a focus for the new vehicle.
Take-privates have accounted for less than 10% of the fund's allocation historically, but that could rise, he said.
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