Jama Software investors are celebrating a big win over the news the Portland company is being acquired for $1.2 billion.
Private equity firm Francisco Partners is buying the company from investors including Insight Partners, Madrona Venture Group and Oregon Venture Fund.
For the Pacific Northwest investors, this deal is a great exit.
Jama was founded in 2007. It was part of a wave of new software companies that built on the growing software talent base in the region and pulling some of the focus from the historically hardware-centered local tech industry.
Oregon Venture Fund first invested in Jama in 2008, when the investor was known as Oregon Angel Fund. With this deal, that 2008 vintage fund could push past the 10x returns, said OVF co-founder Eric Rosenfeld.
“We're very proud of the company Eric Winquist co-founded and the impact it's having on the industry," said Rosenfeld.
Seattle fund Madrona Venture Group first invested in Jama in 2013, when the company took its first traditional venture round. Up until then the founders had been growing through angel investment.
Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter described this deal as one of the largest software exits for Portland.
Addressing the Jama team on LinkedIn, Porter said:
“You have done an incredible job serving customers and building the industry-leading cloud-based requirement management and traceability platform for product teams, all while growing and scaling a SaaS business with both impressive growth and significant profitability. Incredible execution and outcome, with more building and future potential for Jama!”
In 2018, Jama raised a $200 million growth round from Insight Venture Partners. That deal was one of the markers of a turning point in the Portland tech and startup community with not only a frenzy of activity but investors backing nine-figure rounds. Those huge rounds pushed overall venture funding levels to historic highs. That historic level of activity has since fallen.
When Insight Ventures came in, many of the Jama’s early angels cashed out. However, both Madrona and OVF maintained some of their stake.
For OVF, it was 20% of their original stake that they held on to.
“So, now we'll get to sell that last 20% for a more than 60x return on those shares,” said Rosenfeld.
