We assumed that when the startup bought one other startup, it was probably a slight takeover.
This is not the case anymore. When the ranks of ultra-deciding unicorns swell, they show greater readiness to spend large sums for the purchase of complementary startups.
These great outlays, sometimes in lots of of hundreds of thousands, appear in a busy period for the startup-to-startup transaction. Over the past yr, at least 423 American companies secured with an undertaking or seeds have been sold to other private companies financed by VC, for Crunchbase data.
Of these, only several dozen purchases revealed prices. However, those who contained very significant offers, value over $ 6.3 billion.
For a sense where the money is going, below we were a list of 12 largest disclosed price Takeover last yr.
The best publishers
By far the largest purchase last yr StripeOne of the most busy and deep buyers in the whole startpland. In October last yr, a payment technology supplier based in South Francisco agreed to purchase a fintech startup Bridge for $ 1.1 billion.
Until now, 2025 is also a quick start. Last week, spatial calculations and AI Unicorn Infinite reality acquired agentic ai company Touchcast for $ 500 million in money and shares. And in January New York e-commerce technology unicorn Year Paid $ 300 million for the customer data platform Mparticle.
As you may suspect, unicorns spent the most on startup M&A are a well -capitalized group. Until now, Stripe has collected funding value $ 9.4 billion, while the infinite reality secured $ 3.4 billion.
Other series buyers who normally do not disclose purchasing prices are also able to put in writing really large checks. It includes OpenaiThe recipient of the largest funding round in the history of the undertaking, which has made three acquisitions in the last two years, for the Crunchbase data.
The most lively buyer
In addition to spending a lot of cash, some startups also include many offers.
In particular, in the case of more mature unicorns, it often happens that so far many acquisitions. Some of the most busy have 10 or more.
Using Crunchbase data, we recorded data diving in the most lively private buyers, with an emphasis on individuals who recently consumed shopping. It stands out ::
Databicks: Over the past five years, Databicks has I purchased at least 11 companies. Of these offers, the largest was the purchase of $ 1.3 billion in 2023. Mosaicml.
Automatic: Online publishing platform Automatic has 29 COURSE Behind the belt, of which 4 have closed in the last two years. Of these, the biggest was its acquisition of $ 125 million of the chat application Beeper a yr ago.
Stripe: Payments Stripe Stripe 16 companies Over the past 13 years. However, this only revealed the purchase price of two of those offers, the bridge and Paistackwhich he bought for $ 200 million in 2020.
Infinite reality: Six -year infinite reality tastes in mergers and acquisitions. It is done 10 acquisitions Until now, including seven last yr. His five acquisitions revealed purchasing prices of $ 100 million or more.
Grubmarket: San Francisco-Headquartered CoarseThe unicorn focused on the food supply chain was also a busy buyer. This is carried out 54 acquisitions Until now, including many regional product distributors and several programming companies. One of the more loud offers was last yr’s purchase Good eggsStart -up with a set of meals, which previously collected over $ 200 million in financing the project.
Scopy: Games publisher Scoplywhich is owned by itself DISVY Game GroupHe is one other lively buyer. Last month she agreed to pay for $ 3.5 billion for NianticWorks on the game. So far, Scoply has earned at least 11 known acquisitions.
Epic Games: Carey, from North Carolina Epic He was not a particularly lively buyer recently, but he bought a lot over the years 20 acquisitions Until now. The latest contract was April acquisition With LociThe seed start-up focused on AI technology for 3D content.
Expected evolution
Nowadays, there are quite a lot of mature high -value support companies that have decided to stay private. Considering their extensive capital reserves and an appetite for development, it is not surprising that they show the taste of mergers and acquisitions.
Thanks to public markets in corrective territory and so many leading technological actions violently in the last weeks, we could even imagine private companies that play a greater role in start -ups. Because unicorns rarely reveal how much they pay for the takeover, it should not be clear what caliber outputs they supply.