Scott Keane, Former Databricks, Google, and Salesforce Leader, Joins Invictus Growth Partners as Operating Partner

Rhea-AI Summary

Invictus Growth Partners (FIVN) announced on March 24, 2026 that Scott Keane has joined as Operating Partner to scale AI-first revenue operations across portfolio companies.

Invictus manages $1.3 billion AUM, is deploying more than $600 million from recent funds, and targets majority investments of $30M–$100M+.

Positive

• $1.3 billion assets under management
• Deploying $600 million+ from recently closed funds
• Targets majority investments of $30M–$100M+
• Scott Keane led ARR growth of more than 6x at Databricks

Negative

• None.

News Market Reaction – FIVN

-6.47%

12 alerts

-6.47% News Effect

-7.7% Trough in 25 hr 42 min

-$82M Valuation Impact

$1.18B Market Cap

0.2x Rel. Volume

On the day this news was published, FIVN declined 6.47%, reflecting a notable negative market reaction. Argus tracked a trough of -7.7% from its starting point during tracking. Our momentum scanner triggered 12 alerts that day, indicating notable trading interest and price volatility. This price movement removed approximately $82M from the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $1.18B at that time.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Assets under management: $1.3 billion ARR growth multiple: more than 6x Revenue growth at Applause: $30 million to $215 million +5 more

8 metrics

Assets under management $1.3 billion Invictus Growth Partners AUM

ARR growth multiple more than 6x Databricks ARR growth during Scott Keane’s four-year tenure

Revenue growth at Applause $30 million to $215 million Revenue expansion under Tom Bonos’ leadership

Homesnap sale value $250 million Homesnap sale to CoStar Group led by John Mazur

ReachLocal revenue over $100 million European division revenue before Nasdaq IPO under John Mazur

Salesforce revenue scale nearly $35 billion Annual revenue after 22 years of Mike Wolff’s tenure

Capital being deployed more than $600 million Invictus funds currently being deployed

Equity check size $30 million to $100+ million Typical Invictus majority investment size

Market Reality Check

Price: $14.43 Vol: Volume 2,511,791 is near ...

normal vol

$14.43 Last Close

Volume Volume 2,511,791 is near the 20-day average of 2,566,772, suggesting no unusual trading activity ahead of this announcement. normal

Technical Shares at 16.07 are trading below the 200-day MA of 22.45 and well under the 31.78 52-week high, indicating a longer-term lagging trend.

Peers on Argus

FIVN gained 3.48% while peers showed mixed moves: AI up 3.81%, APPN up 1.88%, EV...

FIVN gained 3.48% while peers showed mixed moves: AI up 3.81%, APPN up 1.88%, EVTC up 1.69%, TDC down 0.63%, and AVDX flat. With no peers in the momentum scanner and varied directions, trading appears company-specific rather than a broad sector move.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Mar 12 (Negative)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Mar 12	Legal/shareholder concerns	Negative	-3.2%	Headline questioned whether insiders breached fiduciary duties to shareholders.
Mar 10	Product/strategy update	Positive	-5.9%	Expanded Five9 Fusion partner program to deepen AI-driven CX orchestration.
Feb 24	Conference participation	Neutral	+0.1%	Announced upcoming presentation at a major technology and telecom conference.
Feb 19	Earnings results	Positive	+12.5%	Reported record 2025 revenue and provided 2026 revenue guidance and EPS ranges.
Feb 10	Partner recognition	Positive	-6.6%	Announced 2025 Global Partner Award winners for CX innovation and outcomes.

Pattern Detected

News flow has been generally positive, but price reactions are mixed, with several constructive announcements followed by negative next-day moves alongside one strong earnings-driven gain.

Recent Company History

Over recent months, Five9 reported record 2025 revenue of $1,149.1 million and guided 2026 revenue to $1.247–$1.261 billion, which coincided with a 12.46% positive move. Other upbeat items, including partner awards and an expanded Fusion partner program, saw next-day declines of 6.64% and 5.93%. A fiduciary-duty related headline on Mar 12 preceded a 3.16% drop, while a conference-participation notice on Feb 24 had little impact. Against this backdrop, today’s AI- and GTM-focused leadership news sits within a pattern of mixed price follow-through on positive narratives.

Market Pulse Summary

The stock moved -6.5% in the session following this news. A negative reaction despite constructive A...

Analysis

The stock moved -6.5% in the session following this news. A negative reaction despite constructive AI-focused leadership news would fit a pattern where several positive headlines, such as partner awards and platform expansion, preceded declines of 6.64% and 5.93%. With the stock still trading below its 22.45 200-day MA and far from the 31.78 52-week high, sentiment has been fragile. Past behavior suggests that even solid strategic updates have not consistently offset broader concerns already priced into the shares.

Key Terms

assets under management, arr, go-to-market, omnichannel, +4 more

8 terms

assets under management financial

"a leading middle-market growth equity firm with $1.3 billion in assets under management"

Assets under management (AUM) is the total value of all the investments that a financial company or fund is responsible for overseeing on behalf of its clients. It’s like a big bucket that shows how much money the firm is managing for people or organizations. A higher AUM often indicates a larger, more trusted company, and it can influence how much money they earn and the services they can offer.

arr financial

"with ARR growth of more than 6x during his four year tenure"

ARR, or Annual Recurring Revenue, is the predictable income a business expects to earn each year from ongoing customer subscriptions or contracts. It’s like a steady paycheck that shows the company's ability to generate consistent revenue over time, helping investors assess its stability and growth potential. ARR provides a clear picture of how well a company is performing in building long-term customer relationships.

go-to-market technical

"he led go-to-market strategy, revenue operations, and company-wide execution"

A go-to-market plan is the practical roadmap a company uses to introduce a product or service to customers, covering who the target buyers are, how the product will be sold or distributed, pricing, and the main marketing and sales messages. For investors, it shows how quickly and cost-effectively a business can win customers and generate revenue — like a launch playbook that determines whether a new offering will reach its audience and scale profitably.

omnichannel technical

"industry-leading omnichannel outbound customer engagement platform for enterprise contact centers"

A coordinated approach to selling and serving customers across all touchpoints—stores, websites, mobile apps, social media, and call centers—so the experience feels like one continuous conversation no matter where a customer interacts. For investors, omnichannel capability signals how well a company can attract and keep customers, turn interactions into sales, and use shared customer data to cut costs and boost revenue—making it a key driver of growth and competitive strength.

nasdaq financial

"before its $250 million sale to CoStar Group. Earlier, he scaled ReachLocal's European division from startup to over $100 million in revenue and a Nasdaq IPO."

The Nasdaq is a stock exchange where many companies' shares are bought and sold, functioning much like a marketplace for investments. It matters to investors because it provides a platform to buy and sell ownership stakes in companies, helping them track the value of those companies and make informed decisions. As one of the largest and most technology-focused markets, it also reflects trends and developments in the business world.

ipo financial

"from startup to over $100 million in revenue and a Nasdaq IPO."

An initial public offering (IPO) is the process by which a private company sells its shares to the public for the first time, making its ownership available on the stock market. This allows the company to raise money from a wide range of investors to fund growth or other goals. For investors, an IPO offers a chance to buy into a company early in its public journey, potentially benefiting if the company grows in value.

ai-native technical

"CYPHER Learning, an Invictus portfolio company and AI-native learning platform"

A company or product described as ai-native is built from the ground up around artificial intelligence rather than having AI added on later; its core processes, user experience and decision-making rely on machine learning models and data pipelines. Like a house designed for wheelchair access versus one retrofitted, ai-native firms can move faster, scale more cheaply and offer unique products or cost advantages—information investors use to judge future growth potential and risk exposure to model, data or regulatory failures.

zero trust security technical

"specializing in identity-first zero trust security, and joins the Invictus Guild as a CEO Coach"

Zero trust security is an approach to protecting networks and data that assumes no user or device is automatically trusted, whether inside or outside the network; every access request is verified, limited to the minimum needed, and continuously monitored. For investors, it matters because adopting zero trust reduces the likelihood and impact of cyberattacks, helps meet regulatory and insurance requirements, and can lower operational and reputational risk that would otherwise hurt revenue, costs, or valuation.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

• Keane Brings Deep Expertise in AI-Driven Revenue Operations to Accelerate Portfolio Value Creation
• Five Seasoned B2B Executives Join the Invictus Guild as Operating Advisors
• Invictus Doubles Down on AI-Native Revenue Execution to Redefine How B2B Companies Scale

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Invictus Growth Partners ("Invictus"), a leading middle-market growth equity firm with $1.3 billion in assets under management, today announced that Scott Keane has joined the firm as an Operating Partner. Keane will work directly with Invictus portfolio companies to design and scale AI-powered Revenue Operations across Sales and Marketing, leveraging his deep experience in this area from his time at Salesforce, Google, and most recently at Databricks. Keane joins as the firm continues to accelerate value creation across its enterprise cloud software, cybersecurity, and financial technology portfolio.

Keane brings more than two decades of experience building and scaling revenue organizations at some of the most recognized names in enterprise software. Most recently, he served as VP of Global Sales Development at Databricks, where he designed and implemented the global AI-driven sales development function globally during a period of rapid growth with ARR growth of more than 6x during his four year tenure. Prior to Databricks, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Bitly, where he led go-to-market strategy, revenue operations, and company-wide execution. Before that, he spent time at Google where he built the global sales development team for Google Cloud. Earlier in his career, Keane spent nine years at Salesforce, where he helped build the company's marketing operations and sales development strategy during its defining hyper-growth era. He holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

At Invictus, Keane will partner with portfolio company go-to-market teams to implement modern, AI-first approaches to pipeline generation, marketing automation, and revenue operations - bringing together the systems, processes, and people needed to drive predictable, scalable growth.

"The rules for how revenue teams operate are being rewritten right now," said Scott Keane, Operating Partner at Invictus Growth Partners. "For years, companies' sales and marketing teams have performed tasks that AI can now handle faster and more effectively – from qualifying leads and mapping pipeline health to personalizing outreach at scale. The opportunity to build lasting competitive advantage through AI-native revenue operations has never been greater, or more urgent. Invictus is already executing this playbook through DIANE – and I came here to build on that foundation and help every portfolio company capture that edge."

"AI is compressing the gap between insight and action, and the companies that operationalize that across their revenue engine will outpace their peers," said John DeLoche, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Invictus. "We have been investing behind that shift with DIANE, embedding AI directly into how our companies generate and convert pipeline. Scott brings the rare ability to turn that vision into repeatable, day-to-day operating systems, and we're excited to scale that impact across the portfolio.

"The competitive landscape for B2B software is being reshaped in real time," said William Nettles, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Invictus. "Buyers are more informed, sales cycles are more complex, and the bar for execution has never been higher. Scott brings a unique, hands-on ability to align revenue operations, marketing, and sales into a single AI-augmented engine. That alignment is one of the highest-leverage ways we drive value across our portfolio, and we're excited to have him on the team."

Keane's addition to the Invictus team further strengthens the firm's value-creation platform, which includes DIANE, Invictus's proprietary AI-driven system that has delivered measurable improvements in direct sales conversion and customer introductions across the portfolio.

New Invictus Guild Operating Advisors

The Invictus Guild is a portfolio company success team of operating advisors that work closely with Invictus portfolio companies on value creation. Invictus also announced the addition of five new Invictus Guild operating advisors:

Tom Bonos – Enterprise software revenue leader with deep expertise in scaling global sales organizations at high-growth SaaS companies. Bonos served as Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Applause (acquired by Vista Equity Partners), driving global sales strategy and exponential revenue growth from $30 million to $215 million. Prior to Applause, he was EVP of Global Sales at ServiceSource and a Group Vice President at Oracle, with earlier leadership roles at SAP America.

David Canellos – Cybersecurity veteran with more than 20 years of experience leading high-growth security companies to successful exits. Currently CEO of Axiad, an Invictus portfolio company specializing in identity-first zero trust security, and joins the Invictus Guild as a CEO Coach. Previously President and CEO of Ericom Software, acquired by Ericsson, and President and CEO of Perspecsys, acquired by Blue Coat Systems and subsequently by Symantec, where he served as SVP of the Advanced Technology Group.

Ashish Koul – Entrepreneur and AI-driven customer engagement executive who founded and scaled Acqueon into the industry-leading omnichannel outbound customer engagement platform for enterprise contact centers. As Founder and CEO, he led Acqueon through a successful acquisition by Five9 (NASDAQ: FIVN), establishing the company as the definitive leader in AI-powered revenue execution for B2C enterprises across financial services, healthcare, and retail. Prior to Acqueon, he held senior leadership roles at Genpact, NTT Data, and Servion Global Solutions across Hi-Tech, Communications, Banking, and Financial Services industries.

John Mazur – Serial SaaS CEO with deep expertise in scaling high-growth technology companies through expansion, operational transformation, and successful exits. Currently CEO of CYPHER Learning, an Invictus portfolio company and AI-native learning platform. Most recently, he led Chatmeter as the CEO through its acquisition by Alchemer, and prior to that built Homesnap into a market leader before its $250 million sale to CoStar Group. Earlier, he scaled ReachLocal's European division from startup to over $100 million in revenue and a Nasdaq IPO.

Mike Wolff – GTM and revenue leader with deep expertise in scaling global sales organizations, technology partnerships, and customer success. Currently EVP & Chief Growth Officer in the Office of the CEO at Salesforce, where he spent 22 years helping scale the company from under $50M to nearly $35B in annual revenue, holding senior roles including EVP & CRO of Salesforce.org and SVP of Global ISV Partners.

Invictus Growth Partners is a middle-market growth equity firm with $1.3 billion in assets under management, investing in bootstrapped and capital-efficient cloud software, cybersecurity, and fintech companies. The firm is deploying more than $600 million from recently closed funds and provides portfolio companies exclusive access to DIANE, its AI-driven value-creation platform, which has delivered a significant increase in direct sales conversion and can provide access to thousands of warm customer introductions. Invictus makes majority investments with $30 million to $100+ million equity checks. Visit us at www.invictusgrowth.com.

Contact: contact@invictusgrowth.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scott-keane-former-databricks-google-and-salesforce-leader-joins-invictus-growth-partners-as-operating-partner-302723425.html

SOURCE Invictus Growth Partners

FAQ

Who is Scott Keane and what role did he take at Invictus Growth Partners (FIVN) on March 24, 2026?

Scott Keane joined Invictus as an Operating Partner, focused on scaling AI-driven revenue operations. According to the company, he will work directly with portfolio go-to-market teams to implement AI-first pipeline generation and revenue operations.

How large is Invictus Growth Partners' fund and how much is being deployed from recent funds (FIVN)?

Invictus manages $1.3 billion in assets and is deploying over $600 million from recently closed funds. According to the company, that capital is targeted to middle-market cloud, cybersecurity, and fintech investments.

What specific experience does Scott Keane bring from Databricks, Google, and Salesforce to Invictus (FIVN)?

Keane brings over two decades of revenue operations experience, including building global sales development teams and AI-driven functions. According to the company, he led a global AI-driven sales development function at Databricks during >6x ARR growth.

What is DIANE and how does it relate to Invictus' value-creation strategy (FIVN)?

DIANE is Invictus' proprietary AI-driven value-creation platform used to improve direct sales conversion and customer introductions. According to the company, DIANE is embedded across portfolio companies to operationalize AI in revenue engines.

What investment size and sectors does Invictus Growth Partners target (FIVN)?

Invictus focuses on majority investments with equity checks from $30 million to $100M+, targeting cloud software, cybersecurity, and fintech. According to the company, it invests in bootstrapped, capital-efficient middle-market companies.

Who joined the Invictus Guild as operating advisors alongside Scott Keane on March 24, 2026?

Five seasoned executives—Tom Bonos, David Canellos, Ashish Koul, John Mazur, and Mike Wolff—joined as Invictus Guild operating advisors. According to the company, they will support portfolio value creation across GTM, security, AI, and scaling operations.