Agile Growth Corp.

About Us

Agile Growth Corp (“AGGR”) is a newly formed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) driven to find the right company that can develop and thrive as a newly-formed public company and benefit from our operational expertise and a significant infusion of capital.

Each of our direct management team and board of directors have been engaged and involved as former management to large private and public technology, and more specifically, software focused businesses for the entirety of their careers. Additionally, each member of our management team, board of directors and director nominees has been very active in scaled mergers and acquisitions as a part of their operating careers.

We are experienced enterprise technologists and operators who seek to partner with top innovators and thinkers in our field. As operators, our entrepreneurial approach will allow us to support management teams in making impactful decisions with an eye toward growth and operational excellence.

Press Releases

SEC Filings

All Filings for AGC available via EDGAR

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Our Team

Jay Bhatt, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Director

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Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Director, Jay Bhatt is an experienced global technology leader and a former managing director/partner in the private equity investment space. Most recently, Jay served as chief executive officer and lead board member (and previous to this, one of the lead investors) of Alfresco Software, an open-source software company, from 2019 to 2020. Prior to this, Jay was a managing director and partner at Thomas H. Lee Partners, a large private equity investment firm and former majority owner of Alfresco, from 2016 to 2019, where he co-led technology and software investing. Prior to Thomas H. Lee Partners, Jay was president and chief executive officer at Blackboard Inc., a global educational technology company, and president and chief executive officer of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), a global infrastructure software company. Jay also spent many years at Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a design, engineering and gaming software company, where he led the largest business unit (the Architecture, Engineering, & Construction Division). Prior to Autodesk, Jay was an investment banker at Montgomery Securities (now known as Bank of America Securities or BofA Securities). Jay started his career as a transactional attorney. Jay is a former board member of a number of private and public software companies, including Alfresco Software, Nextech, Juvare, Auction.com, Ten-X Commercial, MHS, Blackboard, and Progress Software. Additionally, Jay is a board member at a nonprofit called Cradles to Crayons, which provides resources such as school supplies and clothing to homeless and low-income children. Jay has an undergraduate degree in arts & sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.

Tony Aquilina, Chief Sourcing Officer

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Chief Sourcing Officer, Tony Aquilina is an experienced corporate development and M&A executive with deep experience across the software industry. Previously, Tony served as a Business Development lead and Senior Advisor at large private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, where he drove software deal sourcing. He was additionally a member of the Alfresco Software Board of Directors. Prior to these roles, Tony served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Avid (NASDAQ: AVID), a computer software company that makes innovative technology and collaborative tools for artists and entertainers. Additionally, Tony served as Senior Vice President of strategy and corporate development for Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) from 2012 to 2015. In this capacity, Tony was responsible for managing the Company’s strategic planning process and for identifying and executing investments and acquisitions in support of Progress’ strategic goals and objectives. Tony also held various corporate development roles at Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) over the course of 6 years, and began his career at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) before spending almost 4 years as a Principal at Broadview International.

Sally Baraka, Chief Administrative Officer

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Chief Administrative Officer, Sally Baraka is a global C-level advisor for private equity backed and public software companies with expertise in international technology transactions, data privacy, M&A and IP monetization strategies. Sally has worked in a variety of roles across the software industry and most recently was General Counsel and Board Secretary at Alfresco Software in 2020. Prior to Alfresco Software, Sally was Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Paycor from 2018 to 2019, Vice President and General Counsel at Sparta Systems from 2013 to 2018, and Senior Commercial Counsel at Box, Inc. (NYSE: BOX) from 2012 to 2013.

Ryan Barry, Vice President of M&A

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Vice President of M&A, Ryan Barry is an established investor across a variety of industries and asset classes. At Agile, Ryan is responsible for evaluating investment opportunities and leads transaction diligence, structuring, and execution. Prior to Agile, Ryan was a finance and business operations leader at Redwood Materials, an investor at Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, and a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Ryan has an undergraduate degree from Williams College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Tony Grout, Chief Technology Officer

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Chief Technology Officer, Tony Grout has significant experience leading software products for medical software, developer tools, and communication and messaging products. Previously, from 2019 to 2021, Tony served as the Chief Product Officer at Alfresco Software, where he moved the product into the Gartner Leader Quadrant in 2020. Prior to his position at Alfresco, Tony lead the EMEA enterprise product field services team for Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM), a software development tools company, from 2017 to 2019, was Head of Agile/DevOps Transformation at Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG), a retail and commercial bank, from 2015 to 2017, Head of Product Agility Transformation at Scale at Skype, a digital messaging company, and also Head of Agile Product Transformation at Microsoft Lync (NASDAQ: MSFT), a digital messaging company, from 2013 until 2015, and held various positions at IBM (NYSE:IBM).

John Newton, Chief Strategy Officer and Director

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Chief Strategy Officer and Director Nominee, John Newton has had a 40-year, influential career in information management, founding two large, successful, content management companies over his career. John previously served as CTO for Alfresco Software which he founded in 2005 to bring open source and cloud native technology to the Content Services market. Prior to Alfresco, in 1990, John co-founded Documentum (formerly NASDAQ: DCTM), an Enterprise content management company that eventually sold to EMC Corporation (formerly NYSE: EMC) for $1.7 billion in 2003. In addition to his extensive experience founding and operating software companies, John has also been recognized as a leader in his field and holds numerous positions of influence and distinction. John was elected the Chairman and Fellow of the Information Management Industry Organization, AIIM, and named a Technology Pioneer at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Our Board

Steven Alesio

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Steve has more than 30 years of experience leading, transforming, and investing in public and private companies. He is currently a board member of CDW Corporation (NASDAQ: CDW), Artius Acquisition (NASDAQ: AACQ) and Teaching Strategies, and previously served on the board of Alfresco Software. From 2010 to 2017, Steve served as an Operating Partner at Providence Equity Partners L.L.C., a global asset management firm. Prior to joining Providence Equity, Steve served in various senior leadership positions at Dun & Bradstreet (formerly NYSE: DNB) from 2001 to 2010, a provider of credit information on businesses and corporations. While there, he was appointed to both Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, holding those positions until his departure in 2010. Steve also spent 19 years with the American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), where he served in marketing and general management roles.

Carol Bartz

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Carol has extensive experience leading complex global technology companies. While CEO of Yahoo! (formerly NASDAQ: YHOO) from 2009 to 2011, Carol modernized technology platforms, acquired companies for expansion, divested businesses for focus, ignited partnerships, cut costs, expanded margins and grew the consumer audience. Prior to Yahoo!, she transitioned after 14 years of successfully leading Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) as CEO to the Executive Chairman role. Earlier in her career Carol held several business leadership positions at Sun Microsystems (formerly NASDAQ: SUNW) as an executive officer of the company. Carol has served as Chairman of the Board of Caliva since 2018, which was acquired by Subversive Capital Acquisition Capital in the largest Cannabis SPAC to date in January 2021, launching The Parent Company, California’s largest vertically integrated cannabis operation. Carol now serves on the board of The Parent Company, and has served on many other public company boards, including Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS), Airtouch (formerly NASDAQ: ATCH), BEA Systems (formerly NASDAQ: BEAS), NetAPP (NASDAQ: NTAP) and the NYSE. Carol is known for her strong leadership style and is frequently featured as a prominent business leader in the tech industry, and more recently in the rapidly growing cannabis industry.

John Egan

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Jack is lead director at NetScout Systems (NASDAQ: NTCT), lead director at Verint (NASDAQ: VRNT), Chairman of the Board at Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), and a board member at Trilio, Inc. Jack is the founding managing partner of Egan- Managed Capital, L.P. (founded January 1992), a Boston-based technology venture capital firm, as well as a managing partner of Carruth Associates since 1998. Jack was a member of the board of directors at EMC Corporation (formerly NYSE: EMC) from 1992 to 2016, and served as the Chairman of the M&A Committee and Finance Committee. Additionally, Jack was an executive at EMC from 1986 to 1998, where he held positions such as executive vice president of operations, executive vice president of products and offerings, and executive vice president of sales and marketing. Additionally, he was a former board member at VMWare (NYSE: VMW).

James Heppelmann

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Jim is currently the president and CEO of PTC, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTC), responsible for driving the company’s global business strategy and operations. Since his appointment to CEO in 2010, Jim has spear-headed PTC’s thought leadership and development of its market leading suite of technology—including computer-aided design (CAD), product lifecycle management (PLM), the internet of things (IoT), and augmented reality (AR). Prior to PTC, Jim co-founded Windchill Technology in 1996 and, before that, was CTO at Metaphase Technology from 1992 to 1996. In addition to serving on PTC’s Board of Directors, Jim is a member of the board of directors at SENSATA (NYSE: ST).

Philip Pead

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Phil is a technology executive, advisor, and board member with over forty years of leadership experience in the healthcare IT and software industries and was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) from 2012 to 2016. Phil also held other roles within Progress Software Corporation from 2011 to 2012, including Chairman of the Board and a Company Director. He was also former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) from 2010 to 2012, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eclipsys Corporation from 2009 to 2010, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Per-Se Technologies Inc. from 2000 to 2007, and has been a managing partner of Beacon Point Partners LLC since 2007. Phil is a current board member of Change Healthcare (NASDAQ: CHNG) and Modernizing Medicine.

Advisors

Carl Bass

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Carl is a board member for public technology companies and has held multiple executive roles in the technology industry. Carl was the President and CEO of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) from 2006 to 2017. He spent 24 years at Autodesk where he held a series of executive positions including chief technology officer and chief operating officer. A maker of professional 3D design software and consumer applications by trade, Carl has been credited with expanding Autodesk beyond its core AutoCAD software through acquisitions and new product developments and transitioning from 2D to 3D model-based design. Prior to Autodesk, Bass co-founded Ithaca Software and Buzzsaw.com (both acquired by Autodesk). Bass currently serves on the board of directors of leading technology companies like Zendesk (lead director, NYSE: ZEN), Box, Inc. (NYSE: BOX), Arris Composites, Built Robotics, Bright Machines, Formlabs, nTopology and Planet Labs. He also serves on the board of trustees of the California College of the Arts; and on the advisory boards of Cornell Computing and Information Science, UC Berkeley School of Information, and UC Berkeley College of Engineering.