Ping Identity

Ping Identity Corporation

Company type	Private
Industry	Software
Founded	2002 (2002)
Founder	Andre Durand, Bryan Field-Elliot
Headquarters	Denver , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Products	PingID, PingFederate, PingOne, PingAccess, PingDirectory, PingAuthorize, PingIntelligence
Owner	Thoma Bravo
Website	pingidentity.com

Ping Identity Corporation is a U.S.-based software firm established in 2002 by Andre Durand and Bryan Field-Elliot. Its headquarters are located in Denver, with development centers distributed across Vancouver, Tel Aviv, Austin, Bristol, Grenoble, Boston, and Edinburgh. Additional European offices operate in London, Paris, and Switzerland, while the Asia-Pacific region is supported through locations in Bangalore, Melbourne, and Tokyo. The company was publicly listed until October 2022, when it was taken private following its acquisition by Thoma Bravo.

Specializing in identity management technologies, Ping Identity provides a range of products including PingID for multifactor authentication, PingFederate enabling single sign-on (SSO), PingOne for cloud-based identity services, PingAccess for access control management, PingDirectory for identity data storage, PingAuthorize for policy-driven access governance, and PingIntelligence which leverages AI for cyber threat detection. Their software facilitates federated identity management alongside self-hosted identity access management using attribute-based access control mechanisms. The company competes with industry leaders such as Microsoft and Okta. Its SSO capabilities allow users to authenticate once to gain entry to various applications—web-based platforms, mobile apps, and VPNs—by utilizing open standards like SAML and OAuth.

Alongside offerings from Okta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Google, Ping Identity plays a role in the "identity metasystem," an interoperable framework designed for digital identity governance. This product suite aids enterprise clients in safeguarding access and managing identities within complex IT infrastructures.

History

Founded in 2002 by Andre Durand and Bryan Field-Elliot in Denver, Colorado, Ping Identity Corporation focuses on federated identity management and self-hosted IAM solutions. The company emphasizes web identity technologies and single sign-on systems aimed at replacing conventional password-based authentication for web applications.

The firm’s financing timeline includes a Series A round in 2004 followed by notable capital injections: $35 million from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2014; $44 million raised from DFJ Growth and W Capital Partners in 2013; $21 million sourced from Silicon Valley Bank and Triangle Peak Partners in 2011; as well as $13 million provided earlier by Appian Ventures.

In June 2016, private equity firm Vista Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Ping Identity through a $600 million leveraged buyout. At that stage, the company had accumulated $125 million in total funding. Instead of divesting the business outright, Vista Equity Partners guided Ping Identity through an initial public offering (IPO) in September 2019, with Goldman Sachs acting as the lead underwriter. The company’s shares debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at $15 apiece for 12.5 million shares and surged more than 30% on the first day of trading. Post-IPO, Vista retained an 80% ownership interest.

In August 2022, Thoma Bravo announced its intent to purchase Ping Identity for $2.8 billion in an all-cash transaction that finalized by October of the same year. After acquiring ForgeRock in August 2023, Thoma Bravo declared plans to merge ForgeRock into Ping Identity’s operations, thereby broadening its footprint and product offerings within the identity management sector.