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TA Associates makes USD100m investment in Appfire

Appfire, a provider of apps that help teams solve modern challenges with digital solutions, has received a USD100 million investment from TA Associates, a global growth private equity firm.  

With this investment, Appfire intends to continue its leadership within the Atlassian ecosystem with more than 85 purpose-built products on the Atlassian Marketplace and over 110,000 active installations worldwide.  

TA’s investment in Appfire comes on the heels of a USD49 million strategic investment from Silversmith Capital Partners in May 2020. Since Silversmith’s investment, Appfire has made six acquisitions within the Atlassian ecosystem – Artemis, Beecom, Bolo, Botron, Innovalog and Navarambh – significantly expanding the company’s footprint. 

“TA’s commitment to growth and innovation aligns with our passion for helping teams everywhere drive efficiency and productivity,” says Randall Ward, CEO of Appfire. “We believe this investment is a testament to Appfire’s outstanding team and a clear validation of our vision, strategy and execution. We are excited to continue our partnership with Silversmith and welcome TA as a strategic growth partner.” 

Founded in 2005 as a professional services company, Appfire was one of the first Atlassian partners and transitioned to a product company in 2013. The Appfire team has developed domain expertise in creating, launching and distributing apps through the Atlassian Marketplace. The company’s growing portfolio of apps empowers teams worldwide with workflow automation, business intelligence, publishing and administrative tools, at companies including Google, Amazon and Starbucks. 

“We are thrilled to complete this strategic investment in Appfire and to support Randall and his team in the next stage of the company’s evolution,” say Michael Libert, a principal at TA Associates, and Hythem El-Nazer, a managing director at TA Associates. “We look forward to working closely with the Appfire and Silversmith teams in driving organic growth, leveraging the company’s robust M&A platform and supporting Atlassian’s goal of having best-of-breed products.” 

“Since our investment a year ago, Appfire’s exceptional team, unique culture and strong products have helped leading companies around the world navigate an accelerated need for digital-first, cloud-native solutions. Customers leverage Appfire’s workflow automation, data integration, administration and reporting apps to do their best work,” says Sri Rao, general partner, Silversmith Capital Partners. “We are thrilled to partner with Hythem, Michael and the TA team as Appfire enters an exciting next phase of evolution.” 

As part of the investment, Michael Libert and Hythem El-Nazer of TA have joined Appfire’s Board of Directors. 

“Appfire is a great example of the incredible innovation occurring in the Atlassian marketplace and how our ecosystem can provide customers with the tools and technologies they need to unleash the potential of every team,” says Martin Musierowicz, head of channel, Atlassian. “Appfire continues to deliver great capabilities for our customers, and we’re excited to support their continued growth.” 

Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Appfire and TA Associates. Baird served as the exclusive financial advisor to Appfire. 

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