Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
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Peter Stefanski joins Nexa Equity to enhance software investments, focusing on AI and founder-led businesses with new team expansions.
By Milana Vinn
(Reuters) -Thoma Bravo veteran investor Peter Stefanski has joined Nexa Equity as a partner, a move aimed at helping the software-focused private equity firm target more founder-led businesses in AI.
Stefanski, who is joining Nexa after 14 years at Thoma Bravo, most recently as a partner on its flagship fund, said he sees an opportunity to work with founders of software companies more closely.
“I'm excited by the unique model around concentrated investing, and ... as an investor, provide adequate time and attention to every single one of your companies,” Stefanski said.
The hiring is part of a broader team expansion at Nexa. Blake Shott has also joined as a principal from Sumeru Equity Partners, and Conor Barber has been appointed the firm’s fourth dedicated operating partner with a focus on technology and artificial intelligence.
The expansion is backed by fresh capital, as Nexa Equity recently closed its second fund, Nexa Equity Fund II, at $390 million. The firm was founded in 2021 with a focus on backing founder-led software-as-a-service companies that have between $5 million and $20 million in annual recurring revenue.
Stefanski said the firm sees a significant opportunity in identifying promising AI companies early.
Nexa Equity was founded in 2021 by Vlad Besprozvany and focused on control and significant minority investments in lower middle-market software and fintech companies.
"We look to partner with founders who have found product market fit and have really high caliber companies," said Besprozvany.
At Thoma Bravo, Stefanski led several high-profile buyouts in the application software sector, including the firm’s investments in J.D. Power, a data analytics and consumer intelligence company, as well as Medallia, a customer experience platform, and enterprise software firms Planview and QAD.
(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York, editing by Deepa Babington and Diane Craft)
Private equity refers to investment funds that buy and restructure private companies, aiming to improve their financial performance and eventually sell them for a profit.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think and learn like humans, often used in software to enhance decision-making.
A founder-led company is one where the original founder remains actively involved in the management and decision-making processes, often influencing the company's culture and vision.
Software investment refers to allocating capital into software companies or technologies with the expectation of generating returns through growth and profitability.
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