ForgeRock Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors
ForgeRock was acquired by Ping Identity for $2.3B in October 2022, a 10.6x multiple on $218M of revenue.
ForgeRock revenue at acquisition
$218M
Last twelve months · Oct 2022
ForgeRock revenue multiple at acquisition
10.6x
EV/Revenue · Oct 2022
Cumulative funding ForgeRock raised
$227M
across 4 funding rounds
About ForgeRock
ForgeRock is a multinational software provider of open-source identity and access management solutions deployed by enterprises worldwide. The ForgeRock Identity Platform handles authentication for customers, employees, and IoT devices, complying with GDPR and HIPAA regulations. Clients include Vodafone, Toyota, GEICO, and governments of Norway and Canada from offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Founded
2010
HQ
San Francisco, CAWebsite
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription
Revenue
$100M (Apr 2020)
Valuation
$730M (Apr 2020)
ForgeRock Acquisition
ForgeRock was acquired by Ping Identity for $2.3B on 11 October 2022.
The acquisition price implies a 10.6x revenue multiple on $218M of revenue.
Before the acquisition ForgeRock had raised $227M across 4 funding rounds.
ForgeRock, a global digital identity leader providing the ForgeRock Identity Platform for enterprise-grade identity solutions including orchestration, dynamic access controls, governance, and APIs for customers, employees, and devices in cloud or hybrid environments, was acquired by Thoma Bravo in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.3 billion, announced on October 11, 2022, and completed on August 23, 2023. The deal offered ForgeRock shareholders $23.25 per share, a 53% premium over the closing price on October 10, 2022, and was approved by stockholders on January 12, 2023. Thoma Bravo, a software investment firm, combined ForgeRock into its existing portfolio company Ping Identity immediately upon closing to create a stronger player in the Identity and Access Management market. The combined entity aims to deliver enhanced products, broader geographic support, and accelerated innovation in identity security for workforce and customer identity, reducing vendor complexity for customers. Both companies were recognized as leaders in Gartner's 2023 Magic Quadrant for Access Management. The transaction followed Thoma Bravo's acquisitions of Ping Identity for $2.8 billion in October 2022 and SailPoint for $6.9 billion earlier that year, reflecting a strategy to consolidate leadership in identity security amid growing demand for cybersecurity solutions in digital transformation.
| Acquirer | Date | Type | Price | EV/Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Oct 2022 | Strategic M&A | $2.3B | 10.6x |
ForgeRock Valuation
ForgeRock is currently valued at $730M, based on its Series E in April 2020.
The $94M round was led by Riverwood Capital, with participation from KKR, Foundation Capital, Accel and Meritech Capital Partners.
ForgeRock's valuation has grown 2.2x from $334M at its Series C in June 2014 to $730M in April 2020, across 2 priced rounds.
ForgeRock valuation by funding round
Revenue multiple| Date | Stage | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2020 | Series E | $730M | 7.3x |
| Jun 2014 | Series C | $334M | - |
ForgeRock Revenue
ForgeRock's latest recorded revenue is $100M, as of its Series E in April 2020. At a $730M valuation, that implies a 7.3x revenue multiple.
ForgeRock revenue by funding round
| Date | Revenue * | Valuation | Revenue Multiple | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2020 | $100M | $730M | 7.3x | Series E |
* Revenue (or ARR) figures are the values recorded alongside each funding round. Typically run-rate revenue at the time of the deal, or a reported LTM (last 12 months) revenue.
ForgeRock Funding History
ForgeRock has raised a total of $227M across 4 funding rounds.
ForgeRock's first fundraising round was a $15M Series B in April 2013. The most recent completed round was a $94M Series E in April 2020.
ForgeRock funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2020 | Series E | Riverwood Capital (lead); KKR; Foundation Capital; Accel; Meritech Capital Partners | $94M | $730M | ForgeRock, a San Francisco-based digital identity management provider originally from Norway, completed a $93.5 million Series E funding round on April 21, 2020, led by Riverwood Capital with participation from existing investors Accel, Foundation Capital, KKR Growth, and Meritech Capital Partners. This brought total funding raised since its 2010 founding to over $230 million. Riverwood Capital co-founder Jeff Parks joined the board. The company serves over 1,100 organizations including BBC, BMW, Toyota, Deloitte, Allianz, Vodafone, and UK's Department for Work & Pensions, managing millions of user identities for workforce and consumer use cases. At the time of the announcement, ForgeRock reported surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), described as 'north of $100 million' with 75% year-over-year growth in 2019, reflecting strong demand amid rising remote work and e-commerce driven by COVID-19. The funding will support investments in research and development, cloud services like ForgeRock Identity Cloud, global sales, and market awareness to scale operations. The company had grown to over 600 employees across global offices. ForgeRock positions its AI-driven platform as a leader in the $16 billion digital identity market growing at 13% annually per Gartner, earning accolades like SC Magazine Trust Award for Best Authentication and top score in 2020 Gartner Peer Insights for Identity Governance and Administration. CEO Fran Rosch highlighted its role in enabling secure digital experiences. The round was an upround from prior post-money valuation of $646.5 million, valuing the company above $730 million, with plans to accelerate growth toward an IPO. |
| Sep 2017 | Series D | Accel (lead); KKR; Foundation Capital; Meritech Capital Partners | $88M | - | ForgeRock is an identity management startup providing a digital identity platform that secures identities for humans, devices, things, and services, enabling customer identity and access management (CIAM), privacy compliance, and IoT applications. The company serves major clients including Comcast, Deloitte, Geico, McKesson, Morningstar, Vodafone, and the Norwegian government, with roughly half its customers in the US and the other half in EMEA and Asia Pacific. On September 5, 2017, ForgeRock closed an $88 million Series D funding round led by Accel, with participation from KKR, Meritech Capital Partners, and Foundation Capital, bringing total funding raised to over $140 million. The capital is earmarked for global expansion, particularly in China, product innovation, research and development, sales outreach, and hiring 100-150 more employees to exceed 500 total by year-end. Accel partners Arun Mathew and Bruce Golden, along with KKR's Dave Welsh, joined the board. For FY2016, ForgeRock reported over $100 million in sales, reflecting strong traction amid rising demand for digital identity solutions driven by IoT growth, regulatory changes in data privacy, and the shift to machine-to-machine communications. CEO Mike Ellis highlighted the company's positioning to capitalize on these trends in sectors like financial services, telecom, media, retail, and manufacturing to enhance customer experiences and revenue. Ellis indicated the round positions ForgeRock toward an IPO for additional funding and brand visibility, viewing it as a step to build a category-defining leader in identity, privacy, and access management. The funding underscores investor confidence in ForgeRock's pioneering role, especially compared to peers like Ping Identity (acquired for $600 million) and Okta (IPO in May 2017). |
| Jun 2014 | Series C | Meritech Capital Partners (lead); Foundation Capital; Accel | $30M | $334M | ForgeRock, an identity relationship management (IRM) platform provider, raised $30 million in an oversubscribed Series C funding round on June 19-20, 2014, led by Meritech Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors Accel Partners and Foundation Capital. This brought the company's total funding to $52 million. The funds were intended to accelerate IRM product development and innovation, expand global sales and marketing efforts, and increase market share. Meritech co-founder Paul Madera joined ForgeRock's board as part of the investment. ForgeRock offers the Open Identity Stack, designed for cloud, enterprise, mobile, and social systems, enabling secure customer relationships and new revenue opportunities through identity management. At the time, the company reported over 500,000 end users across 30 countries leveraging its platform, with customers including industry leaders. CEO Mike Ellis highlighted the platform's disruptive impact on customer businesses. Meritech Capital Partners, managing over $2.6 billion, focuses on late-stage venture investments in high-growth tech companies with proven technology and accelerating revenue. The firm has backed notable exits like Facebook, Yammer, and Salesforce.com. |
| Apr 2013 | Series B | Foundation Capital (lead); Accel | $15M | - | ForgeRock is a pioneer of open source identity and access management (IAM) solutions for cloud, mobile, and enterprise environments. The company closed a $15 million Series B round of financing on April 9, 2013, led by Foundation Capital with participation from existing investor Accel Partners, bringing total funding to $22 million. The funding was allocated toward continued development of ForgeRock's Open Identity Stack product, sales growth, and global expansion. Warren Weiss, General Partner at Foundation Capital, joined the company's board of advisors as part of the round. CEO Mike Ellis highlighted significant growth across enterprise, cloud, social, and mobile environments in the year prior to the funding. |
Who has invested in ForgeRock?
5 investors have backed ForgeRock across its funding rounds, including Accel, Foundation Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, KKR and Riverwood Capital.
Lead investors include Riverwood Capital, Accel, Meritech Capital Partners and Foundation Capital.
ForgeRock Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 4 | Lead | Apr 2013 | |
| Palo Alto, CA | 4 | Lead | Apr 2013 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 3 | Lead | Jun 2014 | |
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Start Free TrialForgeRock Competitors
ForgeRock competitors include listed companies like Venustech Group and A10 Networks, and private ones like ReliaQuest, Torq, HoneyBook and Linear.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa, FL | Private | $300M | - | $3.4B | 11.3x | |
 Tel Aviv | Private | $24M | - | $1.2B | - | |
| San Francisco, CA | Private | $80M | - | $2.4B | 30.0x | |
| San Francisco, CA | Private | $100M | - | $2.5B | 25.0x | |
 China | Publicly listed | $349M | ($60M) | $2.5B | 6.0x | |
| United States | Publicly listed | $291M | $62M | $2B | 5.7x |
ForgeRock Public Comps
ForgeRock is no longer listed, but its public comps include Venustech Group, A10 Networks, CETC Cyberspace Security, QiAnXin, Intapp, NetScout Systems, AvePoint, Progress Software, Cellebrite and CloudWalk.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $349M | ($60M) | 6.6x | 6.0x | (38.4x) | (176057.4x) | |||
| $291M | $62M | 6.3x | 5.7x | 29.4x | 19.1x | |||
| $338M | $20M | 4.5x | - | 73.6x | - | |||
| $655M | ($147M) | 4.6x | 4.5x | (20.4x) | (41.4x) | |||
| $578M | ($16M) | 4.6x | 4.5x | (164.3x) | 20.9x | |||
| $859M | $163M | 2.6x | 2.6x | 13.9x | 9.5x | |||
| $419M | $42M | 5.9x | 5.1x | 58.4x | 27.4x | |||
| $978M | $302M | 3.0x | 2.9x | 9.6x | 7.3x | |||
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Common questions about ForgeRock
| When was ForgeRock founded? | ForgeRock was founded in 2010. |
| Where is ForgeRock headquartered? | ForgeRock is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| Is ForgeRock publicly listed? | No, ForgeRock was acquired by Ping Identity in October 2022. |
| Who acquired ForgeRock? | ForgeRock was acquired by Ping Identity in October 2022. |
| How much was ForgeRock acquired for? | ForgeRock was acquired for $2.3B in October 2022, a 10.6x revenue multiple. |
| What is ForgeRock's valuation? | ForgeRock was last valued at $730M in its Series E in April 2020. |
| How much funding has ForgeRock raised? | ForgeRock has raised $227M across 4 funding rounds. |
| What was ForgeRock's last funding round? | ForgeRock's last funding round was a $94M Series E in April 2020, led by Riverwood Capital. |
| Who are ForgeRock's investors? | ForgeRock's investors include Foundation Capital, Accel, Meritech Capital Partners, KKR and Riverwood Capital. |
| What is ForgeRock's revenue? | ForgeRock's latest recorded revenue is $100M (April 2020). |
| What is ForgeRock's revenue multiple? | ForgeRock's latest valuation implies a 7.3x revenue multiple ($730M valuation on $100M of revenue). |
| Which companies are comparable to ForgeRock? | Companies comparable to ForgeRock include ReliaQuest, Torq, HoneyBook, Linear, Venustech Group and A10 Networks. |
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