Key Takeaways
- • GrowthCap, in its eighth year of its awards process, named its Top Software Investors of 2026, recognizing individuals from firms including TA Associates, Summit Partners, Insight Partners, Level Equity and Carlyle.
- • Selection criteria included breadth and depth of software investing experience, advancing AI capabilities and expertise, types of investments made, and each nominee's role supporting portfolio companies.
- • Honorees span large and growth-focused platforms: Hythem El-Nazer (TA) has sponsored 31 investments since joining TA in 2004, and Michael Medici (Summit) has led or played a significant role in 21 investments representing more than $1.5 billion in invested capital.
- • Ben Levin's Level Equity has raised over $6.4 billion in capital commitments, made over 130 growth investments and achieved over 78 liquidity events, according to the profile.
Summary
GrowthCap has announced its Top Software Investors of 2026, the eighth annual edition of its awards process. The listing is framed against pressure on traditional software businesses from artificial intelligence, with GrowthCap arguing that software companies serving as systems of record or with deep domain expertise have durable staying power and can become further entrenched with AI. Selections were based on nominations, conversations across the software and private investment communities, and research into each nominee's career, investment activity and work with portfolio companies.
The profiles highlight a mix of growth-equity and buyout professionals. Hythem T. El-Nazer, Co-Managing Partner and Co-Head of TA Associates' North America Technology Group, chairs TA's Management Committee and has sponsored 31 investments since joining in 2004, while Ashu Agrawal, a TA Managing Director based in Menlo Park, has more than 25 years of technology private equity experience. Michael Medici of Summit Partners has led or played a significant role in 21 investments representing more than $1.5 billion in invested capital, and is focused on the convergence of application-layer software and AI compute infrastructure.
George Mathew, Managing Director at Insight Partners, has built a portfolio of more than 19 companies, with notable holdings including Databricks and exits such as Weights & Biases, acquired by CoreWeave, and Promptfoo, acquired by OpenAI. Ben Levin, Co-Founder and CEO of Level Equity, has led the firm through more than $6.4 billion in capital commitments. Stephen W. Bailey of Carlyle, a Partner and Managing Director focused on growth, middle-market and large-cap technology, has led or served on the boards of more than 20 technology investments across nine Carlyle funds.
The source material consists of GrowthCap's award announcement and nominee biographies; the original article could not be retrieved, so the recognition is presented as GrowthCap's own selection rather than an independent ranking.
The profiles highlight a mix of growth-equity and buyout professionals. Hythem T. El-Nazer, Co-Managing Partner and Co-Head of TA Associates' North America Technology Group, chairs TA's Management Committee and has sponsored 31 investments since joining in 2004, while Ashu Agrawal, a TA Managing Director based in Menlo Park, has more than 25 years of technology private equity experience. Michael Medici of Summit Partners has led or played a significant role in 21 investments representing more than $1.5 billion in invested capital, and is focused on the convergence of application-layer software and AI compute infrastructure.
George Mathew, Managing Director at Insight Partners, has built a portfolio of more than 19 companies, with notable holdings including Databricks and exits such as Weights & Biases, acquired by CoreWeave, and Promptfoo, acquired by OpenAI. Ben Levin, Co-Founder and CEO of Level Equity, has led the firm through more than $6.4 billion in capital commitments. Stephen W. Bailey of Carlyle, a Partner and Managing Director focused on growth, middle-market and large-cap technology, has led or served on the boards of more than 20 technology investments across nine Carlyle funds.
The source material consists of GrowthCap's award announcement and nominee biographies; the original article could not be retrieved, so the recognition is presented as GrowthCap's own selection rather than an independent ranking.
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