WP Engine banks $250 million from PE that bought GoDaddy

WordPress hosting company takes a big investment from a company that knows the hosting space.

There was quite a bit of buzz here in Austin yesterday after WordPress hosting service WP Engine announced a $250 million investment from Silver Lake Partners.

That’s a big number by Austin standards, and might be the biggest single raise by a local tech company since HomeAway banked that much in 2008.

Local press pointed out that Silver Lake is the company that helped Austin-based Dell go private. But there’s also a connection to the hosting/domains business. Silver Lake was one of three private equity groups that bought/invested in GoDaddy in 2011.

Silver Lake definitely understands the hosting space and its business mechanics. The PE firm’s involvement means that WP Engine could be on the same course as GoDaddy when it comes to going public.

I remember when WP Engine was just a few person startup in Austin, so it’s nice to see it grow. It now employs 500 people with most of them in Austin. The company has 75,000 customers and $100 million in annual revenue.

Lisa Box, formerly with Oversee.net and Endurance International Group, is currently Vice President Strategic Alliances and Business Development at WP Engine.