Hello! š
Hope you had a great Valentineās Day! The fact that Valentineās Day is in bone-chilling February has always been a head scratcher for me. After all, a month in Spring would have been a much more appropriate time to celebrate love, when loveās literally in the air and everyone is in the mood for going out and celebrating ā simply ask any friendly neighborhood hibernating bear š». But then again, perhaps that is the whole point of Valentineās Day anyway, to exert enough social pressure so that we leave our caves, get out there and overpay for things at a time we would all rather stay in and sip some warm cider and/or cuddle by a fireplace.
Speaking of love, did you know that in the arcane M&A universe, the oft-misunderstood Corporate Development professional is just your run-of-the-mill Cupid? At least, that is how I envisioned my job at GoDaddy, where I would dream of ways to bring together talented entrepreneurs with our leadership team, paint a picture of a bright, happily-ever-after future together, and see if sparks would fly.
Here are some deals you may have missed while hunting for some fresh flowers in the dead of winter this week:
1
Not Taking Any Naps:
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Napster, the first peer-to-peer file sharing network that revolutionized the way we access and consume music back in the day is still around. Not only that, it seems to be getting ready to make some big M&A moves of its own: āWhen former Roblox executive Jon Vlassopulos joined Napster as CEO at the end of last year, he announced the companyās plans to look for acquisitions within the Web3 and broader digital music startup ecosystem. This is the first of a series of acquisitions Napster intends to make to speed up its Web3 feature rollout plans.ā Napster acquires Web3 music startup Mint Songs
2
The Longest Year:
Meta and its VR division are not getting any breaks these days. Things are already hard enough when you do an acquisition, but imagine having to wait in limbo for a year between signing and closing a deal. It takes āsupernaturalā patience. Looks like a judge has finally given the go-ahead for this deal to go through and close. Meta acquires Within despite FTC concerns
3
Blame It on the Algorithm:
I am typically the beneficiary of the most random social ads, to my kidsā amusement. These days, I seem to be a prime target for travel to far off tropical destinations. As if I have any time for thatā¦ Whether that says something about me or about āthe algorithmā is a hotly debated topic in our home. But this acquisition seems to exonerate me to some extent. There is still lots of money to be made in creating more engaging and better targeted social ads. Augeo acquires Brand Networksāaccelerating social activation across its global leading engagement solutions
4
Love Thy Neighbor:
While it has been quite a tough couple of years for real estate tech companies (big culprit: rising interesting rates), two Seattle-based disruptors just tied the knot. This is even more impressive because the acquirer Flyhomes had gone through a couple of rounds of layoffs last year, which means the deal must have some very impressive bottom line math to have gotten board and shareholder approval. Flyhomes acquires Loftium, combining two Seattle real estate tech companies
5
Sweet Tooth:
Solving the diabetes problem is a massive opportunity, where an effective solution can improve the quality of life of billions worldwide. Great to see continued M&A activity and investment in this area. Insulet makes second $25M acquisition of diabetes technology
P.S. Curb Your Valuation: Exit valuations are down. Way down. If you donāt have to sell, for most startups this is not a great time to sell. However, it is still a great time to build relationships with potential acquirers as I detail in my book Exit Path (audio version available for on-the-go and in-the-gym high speed listening)
PSA: Sharing is caring: forward this to entrepreneurs you care about! š
Cheers,
Touraj