Growth Equity
Spectrum Equity
Spectrum Equity takes minority stakes in growing companies, usually without full control, from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It states a focus on software & internet.
Stated investment criteria
What Spectrum Equity says it buys
Read from Spectrum Equity’s own website in August 2026. This is what the firm says it buys, not what anyone has recorded it buying, and figures are shown in the currency the firm itself used - nothing here is converted. Every line links to the page it was read from.
| Transaction types | Recapitalisation, Growth1 |
| Founded | 19941 |
| Offices | Boston, San Francisco, London1 |
| People listed on its team page | 452 |
A stated mandate is a firm’s description of itself and was true of the page on the day it was read; firms widen and narrow what they will look at without updating the site. Spectrum Equity states that it will take either a controlling or a minority stake. The team figure counts the people the firm shows on one team page, so it is a floor rather than a headcount: firms that split their team across tabs or load it in pages will read low. Nothing here is a commitment by Spectrum Equity to consider any particular business, and nothing on this page is represented as being for sale.
SEC filings
What Spectrum Equity has raised
From this firm's own Form D filings. A fund files one within fifteen days of its first sale, under penalty of perjury, which makes these the hardest numbers on the page.
| Vehicles filed | 13 |
| Total capital raised | $7.4bn |
| Largest single vehicle | $2.0bn |
| Filing history | 2014 to 2022 |
| Smallest accepted commitment | None stated |
| Filed from | MASSACHUSETTS |
Form D covers US-domiciled vehicles raised from accredited investors. It will not capture a fund raised outside the United States, separately managed accounts, or capital deployed off balance sheet, so treat these as a floor rather than a total.
Regulatory record
How Spectrum Equity is registered
From this firm's Form ADV, the annual filing every registered and exempt investment adviser makes to the SEC.
| Adviser status | SEC registered |
| Regulatory assets under management | $7.3bn |
| Employees | 80 |
| Private funds advised | 32 · $5.6bn gross |
| SEC adviser number | CRD 160619 |
Recorded transactions
Buying and selling
Deals in which Spectrum Equity is named as buyer or seller in the transaction archive. 4 recorded exits, most recently in 2021. 1 recorded acquisition.
| Company | Side | Counterparty | Year | Consideration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VBA | Bought | — | 2023 | $156m |
| Quantile Group | Sold | London Stock Exchange Group | 2021 | $422m |
| Picmonkey | Sold | Shutterstock | 2021 | $110m |
| Rightside Group Ltd. | Sold | Identity Digital | 2017 | $213m |
| Jagex | Sold | Shandong Hongda Mining Co. | 2016 | $300m |
Compiled from a transaction archive of 10,204 recorded deals. Most private transactions are never disclosed, so this is a sample of a firm’s activity rather than a complete record of it.
Valuation context
Transaction values in Software & Internet
What companies have actually sold for in software & internet, across 2,672 recorded transactions.
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Comparable investors
Similar mandates
Other growth equity investors active in software & internet.