Companies that buy a lot of startups don’t always have a lot in common.
Some are longstanding blue chip tech and pharmaceutical companies. Others are fast-growing venture-backed unicorns. And still others are more recent public market entrants looking to stay competitive in the age of AI.
To get a sense of who’s buying in bulk, we used Crunchbase data to put together a list of 79 companies that ac...
The article presents a snapshot of a highly active M&A environment, particularly within the tech sector, but it's crucial to recognize that this represents a specific moment in a longer, potentially destabilizing trend. The prominence of Salesforce, OpenAI, and Snowflake reflects a consolidation of power in a few key players – companies fundamentally shaped by network effects and early access to nascent technologies. The emphasis on “acqui-hires” and smaller purchases suggests a drive to rapidly...