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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallVenafi was valued at $1.15 billion when Thoma Bravo announced a strategic growth investment in the cybersecurity company on December 10, 2020. SecurityWeek described the valuation as making Venafi a “unicorn”—the common term for a privately held company valued at $1 billion or more. Thoma Bravo announced that the investment was complete on December 31, 2020.
What did Thoma Bravo’s investment mean for Venafi’s valuation?
Thoma Bravo’s December 10, 2020 announcement said Venafi was valued at $1.15 billion. That figure is the company valuation disclosed with the investment announcement; it is not the amount Thoma Bravo invested. The release did not disclose the investment amount or provide a full ownership breakdown.
The “unicorn” label came from SecurityWeek’s contemporaneous coverage, not from the wording of Thoma Bravo’s announcement. The publication also reported that Thoma Bravo acquired a majority stake and that exact deal terms were not disclosed. Thoma Bravo said existing investors TCV and Foundation Capital would remain shareholders.
What did Venafi do?
Venafi focused on machine identity management: identifying and securing the digital credentials that machines and software use to authenticate and communicate. Thoma Bravo’s announcement described Venafi as managing cryptographic keys and digital certificates used for SSL/TLS, SSH, code signing, mobile devices, and the Internet of Things.
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The company said its platform provided visibility into machine identities and related risks across on-premises, mobile, virtual, cloud, and IoT environments, and automated remediation of risks associated with weak or compromised identities. Those are descriptions of Venafi’s capabilities and intended benefits in the company’s announcement.
Then-CEO Jeff Hudson explained the importance Venafi placed on the category: “Machine identity management is a top priority in cybersecurity because it is foundational for digital transformation,” he said in the 2020 announcement.
How did the investment and later sale unfold?
| Date | Event | What the announcement established |
|---|---|---|
| December 10, 2020 | Thoma Bravo announced a strategic growth investment. | Thoma Bravo stated that Venafi was valued at $1.15 billion and that TCV and Foundation Capital would remain shareholders. The investment amount was not stated. Thoma Bravo |
| December 31, 2020 | Thoma Bravo announced the investment had closed. | The announcement confirmed completion of the strategic growth investment. Thoma Bravo |
| May 20, 2024 | CyberArk announced an agreement to acquire Venafi from Thoma Bravo. | This was an agreement announcement, not the closing date. Thoma Bravo |
| October 1, 2024 | CyberArk completed the acquisition. | CyberArk put the approximate consideration at $1.54 billion: about $1 billion in cash and $540 million in CyberArk ordinary shares. CyberArk announcement hosted by Thoma Bravo |
Why is Venafi’s 2024 acquisition value different from its 2020 valuation?
The two figures describe separate transactions four years apart. The $1.15 billion figure was the valuation Thoma Bravo stated when announcing its 2020 investment. The approximately $1.54 billion figure was the consideration CyberArk cited when it completed its 2024 acquisition of Venafi from Thoma Bravo. The latter included cash and CyberArk shares; it should not be presented as the price or investment amount from 2020.
CyberArk said the combination brought Venafi capabilities—including certificate lifecycle management, enterprise public key infrastructure (PKI), workload identity management, secure code signing, and SSH security—together with CyberArk secrets management. The acquisition announcement establishes the combination, but does not establish that Venafi continues as a standalone company or that its product packaging has remained unchanged since the acquisition.
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