Vista Equity Partners has elevated Martin Taylor as the newest co-head of the private investment firm’s foundation fund, according to a letter sent to fund investors.
(Bloomberg) — Vista Equity Partners has elevated Martin Taylor as the newest co-head of the private investment firm’s foundation fund, according to a letter sent to fund investors.
Taylor, a longtime technology professional spanning 30 years, will take on the role as senior managing director after first joining the company in 2006. He will work alongside existing co-head Patrick Severson after most recently serving as managing director and president of the firm’s software innovation initiative dubbed OneVista.
A representative for Vista confirmed the contents of the letter, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News.
“I am delighted to join the foundation fund team as we continue to partner with leading enterprise software companies to realize our collective ambitions and deliver results to our investors,” Taylor said in the letter. “I look forward to working closely with Patrick to ensure continued strong leadership of the team and fund.”
As part of Taylor’s appointment, Marc Teillon is exiting the role and will transition to senior adviser at the firm, according to the letter. Reuters earlier reported that Teillon is departing the company to pursue other opportunities.
Teillon joined Vista in 2009 and later became a member of the firm’s private equity management committee. He has served on the board of several portfolio companies at Vista including Aptean Inc., an asset from the most recent $4.5 billion foundation fund that was raised in 2020. The firm in October sold a stake in Aptean to Insight Partners.
Vista Founder and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Smith touted Teillon as a disciplined investor and stated that he “has served as an invaluable partner to me and the firm. With the appointment of Martin, the Foundation Fund team remains strongly positioned to consistently deliver results to our investors and further the impact of today’s leading, middle-market enterprise software organizations,” he added.
According to multiple sources, Vista Equity will begin raising Foundation Fund V in the second half of the year. The raise is frankly one of the reasons for the change now, said one of the people.
Taylor’s tenure across the tech sector includes more than 13 years of work at Microsoft Corp., according to his LinkedIn profile. He earned his degree from George Mason University, and personally made a $1.5 million commitment to the University of Texas ago with a large portion of that being steered toward the Heman Sweatt Center for Black Males.
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