The M&A Landscape: AI Startups
Mergers and Acquisitions of 2024.
Throughout 2024, over 170 AI startups have been acquired. We take a closer look at who they are and who is acquiring them.
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A year in review
AI has dominated the technology ecosystem over the past twelve months, with 30% of all venture funding directed towards AI startups. Additionally, over 170 AI startups have been acquired by more than 160 different buyers.
Throughout this edition, we discover:
The 170+ AI startups that have been acquired throughout 2024.
The peak timeframes in which the startups were launched before being acquired.
The fundraising stages of startups leading up to their acquisition.
The most active buyers acquiring AI startups.
The M&A Landscape For AI Startups
Throughout 2024, 170+ startups have been acquired by 160+ buyers. To help you explore these acquisitions, we've highlighted most of them in the market map below.
Disclaimer: Startups and companies which have been acquired must have raised less than USD $100M to be featured.
Headquarters Locations
As we highlighted in our previous edition, which covered the number of companies achieving unicorn status in 2024 and their headquarters locations—with the U.S. leading the way—this edition also ranks the U.S. at the top, accounting for 55% of acquired startups. Following the U.S. are the U.K., France, Israel, Canada, India, Germany, Finland, and Singapore.
When The Startups Were Founded
From the 170+ startups acquired this year, we have identified the following insights:
27% of the acquired startups launched between 2020 and 2024.
Between 2017 and 2020 was the peak time for when startups were founded before being acquired this year.
6 companies that were founded between 2023 until today have already been acquired.
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Types Of Startups Being Acquired
Most of the startups being acquired are at the Seed stage, accounting for 36% of the total, followed by Series A at 21% and Series B at 10%.
The Most Active Investors
Among the 170+ acquisitions in 2024, the most active investors in these startups include YC, Sequoia, Accenture, Bossa Invest, Google for Startups, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Plug and Play, and MassChallenge.
The Most Active Buyers
From the startups that were acquired, Hugging Face, Front, Autodesk, Databricks, Cornerstone, and NVIDIA each acquired more than one startup.
AI Resources by New Economies
Over the past few months, we've shared the latest technology trends shaping the AI ecosystem. In case you missed them, here are our most-read pieces:
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