ActiveState
Canadian software company based in Vancouver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ActiveState Software Inc. is a Canadian software which creates tools for managing open source software in business. The company's work includes vulnerability management, container security, and supply chain security.
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Global |
Key people | Abby Kearns (CEO) |
| Products | ActiveState Platform, ActivePerl, ActivePython, ActiveTcl, Komodo IDE |
Number of employees | >60 |
| Website | activestate |
As of 2025, ActiveState reports serving approximately 94,000 monthly active users and supporting more than 40 million open source libraries.[1] The company states that its platform is compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF).[2]
ActiveState has partnered with distributors such as Carahsoft[3] and Aquion.[4]
ActiveState is privately held and jointly owned by its employees and Vertu Capital, a Canadian private equity firm.[5][6]
History
ActiveState Software Inc. was founded in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, by Dick Hardt, David Ascher, and others, with the goal of adapting open source programming languages for commercial use. The company became known for commercial distributions of languages such as Perl, Python, and Tcl for Windows and enterprise platforms.[7]
In 2003, the company was acquired by British security software firm Sophos, a UK-based security software company, and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary.[8] In January 2006, ActiveState was purchased by Pender Financial Group, a Canadian investment company.[9]
In early 2021, ActiveState received a strategic investment from Turn/River Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm.[10] On November 7, 2023, the company was acquired by Vertu Capital, a Canadian private equity firm, and became jointly owned by Vertu Capital and ActiveState employees.[11]
Subsidiaries
Awards and recognition
ActiveState was named a "Top 25 Publisher" by ComponentSource in 2021.[16]
In 2024, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Baker was named among the "Top 50 Software CEOs" by The Software Report.[17] In the same year, Chief Marketing Officer Allyson Barr was included in the publication's list of "Top 50 Women Leaders in Software."[18]