By Preeti Singh and Silas Brown | Updated on Jun 11, 2026 at 01:02 PM
Technology-focused Francisco Partners collected more than $18 billion for two private equity funds, capturing its biggest-ever haul despite a challenging time for buyouts.
The firm is expected to announce the final close of its flagship fund and a smaller vehicle in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The flagship Francisco Partners VIII LP exceeded its $14 billion target, while Agility Fund IV LP surpassed its $4 billion goal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.
Investors in the latest funds include the Nebraska Investment Council, Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
Francisco Partners raised roughly $17 billion for the prior iterations of the two funds in 2022.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco-based firm declined to comment on the fundraising.
The rise of artificial intelligence has pressured private equity in recent months, as investors grow wary over the industry’s exposure to firms that are susceptible to AI disruption such as software companies. Prior to the AI boom, private equity firms loaded up on software bets as more companies relied on the cloud and software-as-a-service providers.
But the rollout of new AI tools this year has threatened to replace those software services, stoking a market sell-off dubbed the SaaSpocalypse. The panic in the public markets has made it harder to exit private technology bets: The value of such deals plunged 70% in the first quarter , according to Bain & Co., battering an industry that had already been grappling with a years-long deal lull triggered by higher interest rates.
In a February interview with Pitchbook on the software selloff, Francisco Partners co-founder Dipanjan Deb said AI will disrupt some parts of the industry but potentially boost other areas.
“We have to figure out the implications of this technology for everything else in the ecosystem, and what is likely to get stronger,” he said.
Since its 1999 inception, Francisco Partners has raised more than $50 billion and backs tech sub-sectors including healthcare, financial services, education, security and infrastructure.