With IPOs stalled and valuations down from their 2021 peak, more companies are snapping up venture-backed startups so far this year than in quarters past, Crunchbase data shows.
That includes not just an increase in M&A deals for startups overall, but also more startups buying their peers, and more private-equity buyers going after venture-backed companies.
Those are some of the broad takeaways from Crunchbase data for Q1 2025. Let’s take a closer look.
Startup M&A sees big YoY boost
Q1 2025 was the strongest quarter for startup M&A dollar volume since 2021, totaling $71 billion in reported exit value globally, Crunchbase data shows.
There were 550 M&A deals involving venture-backed startups in the first quarter of 2025 — a 26% increase compared to Q1 last year, but slightly below the 563 deals done in Q4.
The first quarter included Google’s planned purchase of cybersecurity unicorn Wiz, a deal that, if finalized, will mark the largest acquisition for a private company ever with a price tag of $32 billion.
In total, there were 12 announced acquisitions above $1 billion for venture-backed startups in Q1. Beyond Wiz, the most notable include Ampere Computing’s acquisition by SoftBank, Modernizing Medicine’s purchase by Clearlake Capital Group, Moveworks’ acquisition by ServiceNow, and Weights & Biases’ purchase by CoreWeave.
Dealmaking for AI-related startups was particularly strong in Q1, Crunchbase data shows, with 81 such M&A deals — a nearly 33% increase from both Q1 and Q4 2024.
PE firms ramp up their startup purchases
In 2024, private equity firms spent more than $56 billion in disclosed-price acquisitions of private, venture-backed companies, Crunchbase data shows. The real figure is likely much, much higher, since that number stems from just the one-fifth of deals that disclosed a purchase price.
The trend has continued into 2025, with 22 announced acquisitions of seed- or venture-funded private companies by PE firms in Q1. Three of those deals had disclosed prices totaling $8.3 billion: ModMed’s March sale of a majority stake to Clearlake Capital Group at a reported value of $5.3 billion; HealthEdge’s April sale to Bain Capital for a reported $2.6 billion; and flex workspace provider Industrious’ January sale to commercial real estate firm CBRE for a reported $400 million.
Startups spending big to buy startups
While strategic buyers and PE firms are still the most common purchasers of startups, we’ve also seen high-profile examples in Q1 of unicorn startups buying smaller peers.
Over the past year, at least 423 U.S. venture- or seed-backed companies have sold to other private, VC-funded companies, per Crunchbase data. Most of those announced deals don’t include prices, either, so it’s tough to gauge how successful the sellers are.
Still, those that have disclosed sale prices include some headline-grabbing deals. The largest startup-to-startup purchase in the past 12 months was Stripe’s acquisition last year of fellow fintech Bridge for $1.1 billion. The next-largest disclosed-price deals were AlphaSense’s $930 million purchase of Tegus and LetsGetChecked’s $525 million acquisition of Truepill.
Will M&A rebound or slump?
Heading into 2025, the consensus among people we spoke with seemed to be that M&A deals were poised for a rebound this year, especially with a new administration in the White House. Some of that enthusiasm about the Trump team’s stance toward business has since faded as the president’s volatile tariff policies roils business decision-makers.
“M&A activity is more directly influenced by macroeconomic conditions … particularly when it comes to large, publicly traded strategic acquirers,” Ofer Schreiber, senior partner and head of the Israel office for venture firm YL Ventures, recently told Crunchbase News’ Chris Metinko. “In the current environment — marked by market instability and shifting valuations — these players are becoming more cautious and less inclined to pursue acquisitions.”
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