Francisco Partners (“FP”), a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses, today announced its inclusion for the fifth consecutive year on Inc.’s annual Founder-Friendly Investors list, which honors the private equity, venture capital firms and lenders with established track records of backing founder-led companies. This year’s list recognizes 248 firms for their proven commitment to collaboration and continued engagement with the companies they back.

“We’re honored to be recognized once again by Inc. as a founder-friendly investor,” said Dipanjan “DJ” Deb, CEO and Co-Founder of Francisco Partners. “For more than 25 years, we’ve built deep, trust-based relationships with founders who are driving innovation across the technology landscape. This recognition underscores our belief that great outcomes come from true partnership and collaboration—combining visionary leadership, sector focus and specialization, and operational resources to help companies reach their full potential. We’re grateful to the many founders who continue to place their confidence in us as partners on their growth journeys.”

This recognition comes during another milestone year for Francisco Partners. In January, the firm announced the close of FP Credit Partners III, which exceeded its target at $3.3 billion, underscoring continued investor confidence in FP’s multi-strategy, “one-firm” approach. In 2025, the firm has also completed several notable transactions, including the sales of Edifecs and Office Ally, as well as the acquisitions of Quorum Software and Elite, further expanding its footprint across energy and legal technology.

Earlier this year, Francisco Partners was again ranked the #1 Top Global Large Buyout Performer by HEC Paris-Dow Jones, marking its fifth consecutive year among the top three firms and its second time earning the top spot in the past five years.

With over $50 billion in capital raised and more than 500 technology investments since inception, Francisco Partners has built a legacy of buying complexity and selling clarity. Over the past three years, 47% of its transactions have involved founder-backed companies, highlighting FP's ongoing collaboration with founders and management teams to support the growth of enduring technology companies.

“Raising capital is no small feat for today’s entrepreneurs. That’s why discovering investors who offer more than just financial backing—those who bring mentorship, resources, and a true spirit of partnership to your growth journey—is both rare and invaluable,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “The 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors are collaborators and dedicated to helping their portfolio companies succeed.”

To compile the list, Inc. went straight to the source: entrepreneurs who have sold to private equity and venture capital firms. Founders filled out a questionnaire about their experiences partnering with private equity, venture capital, and debt firms and shared data on how their companies have grown during these partnerships.

Awardees were selected based on their investment strategy, size of their portfolio of founder-led businesses, and the industries they invest in, as well as founder references from within the portfolio.

For more information or to view the complete list of honorees, visit https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 25 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in over 450 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. With over $50 billion in capital raised to date, the firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

About Inc.

Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

Disclosures

For further detail on this 2024 HEC ranking, including the study’s methodology, please see the complete performance rankings, published February 6, 2025:

https://www.hec.edu/en/news-room/us-based-private-equity-firms-dominate-top-10-spots-latest-large-buyout-performance-ranking.*

The HEC rankings referenced above and below are the opinion of the respective parties conducting the rankings, and are not representative of any client experience. Past performance and such rankings are not indicative or a guarantee of future results. For further detail on the 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 rankings, including methodology, please visit each link for the complete performance rankings: 2024 study, 2023 study, 2022 study, 2021 study, and 2020 study. These rankings analyzed aggregate performance based on buyout funds raised between 2011 and 2020 (2024 study), 2010 and 2019 (2023 study), 2009 and 2018 (2022 study), 2008 and 2017 (2021 study), and 2007 and 2016 (2020 study) by managers who had raised at least $5 billion (2024-2023 studies) and $3 billion (2022-2020 studies) in aggregate, had 10 observation years (sum of the age of all funds), and had at least two funds raised between 2011-2020 (2024 study), 2010-2019 (2023 study), 2009-2018 (2022 study), 2008-2017 (2021 study), and 2007-2016 (2020 study) with full performance available. The criteria were applied to 649 (2024 study), 632 (2023 study), 563 (2022 study), 517 (2021 study), and 529 (2020 study) private equity firms which reported performance to HEC or for which Preqin data was available, resulting in a ranking of 111 firms (2024 study), 101 firms (2023 study), 75 firms (2022 study), 64 firms (2021 study), and 102 firms (2020 study). Such rankings should not be considered an endorsement of FP. There can be no assurance other surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing.

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