There’s a growing number of private equity (PE) firms taking an interest in what’s happening in the software world. I’ve covered one of the heavy hitters, Thoma Bravo, in this column before. But for this edition I’ve selected a lesser-known PE firm called Insight Venture Partners (IVP) on which to focus your attention.

Unlike Thoma Bravo, the vast majority of IVP’s previous investments have been less than $50 million, and it has often been a bit-part player, completing very few full acquisitions. However, during the month of January, it was extremely busy, having completed seven investments and two acquisitions, including its largest to date – Veeam Software for $5 billion. In addition to the Swiss-based cloud data management company, it also signed a definitive agreement with cyber security firm Armis, in a deal valued at over $1.1 billion.