Which startups get acquired?
Viewed by most recent funding stage, the most common answer is "Series A startups".
Series A had the most acquisitions in every period we measured (taking the first half total for every year since 2021).
𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀
Always a strong showing for pre-priced round acquisitions (which are most likely acquihires or feature grabs).
M&A activity rose form H1 2023 to H1 2024 in most stages - positive sign for the rest of the year?
The late-stage acquisitions (which get much more attention from the press and from regulators) actually make up a fairly tiny portion of the overall M&A market.
Anecdotally, it seems that far more companies are open to M&A discussions today than 12 or 18 months prior. Of course there won't be buyers for all interested parties.
As to who is buying these companies, I'd bet it's mostly the same three groups: PE shops, other startups, and big tech.
The obvious missing piece in this analysis is the acquisition quality - what was the actual final price and for how many participants did this generate real wealth? Sadly I don't have those answers...but shout out in the comments if you know of a dataset that does!
#startups #M&A #acquisitions #founders #venturecapital
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