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There were 405 acquisitions of New York companies in 2019, down from the 409 in 2018. Today, I shine a spotlight on 22 of these notable transactions involving NYC startups that were acquired during 2019. I have included the acquiree, the acquirer, transaction amount (when available), time from founding to exit (the average for this group was 6.14 years), as well as investors and total funding raised by the target. The list is ordered by announced transaction value.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE 2019 NYC STARTUP ACQUISITIONS/EXITS
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Good Uncle
Good Uncle acquired by Aramark
Good Uncle, the on-demand food delivery service serving college campuses, has been acquired by foodservice titan Aramark. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “Good Uncle strengthens our ability to offer quality and convenience through services that allow our college consumers to order restaurant-quality food and have it delivered when and where they want it on campus,” remarked Eric J. Foss, Aramark’s Chairman, President, and CEO.
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: First Round Capital, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Brainchild Holdings, Charge Ventures, Jason Finger
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: $2.2M
Time from founding to exit: 3.76 years
Full coverage: Good Uncle acquired by Aramark
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Teckst
Teckst acquired by LiveVox
Teckst, the enterprise omnichannel real-time messaging platform, has been acquired by SF-based LiveVox. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “LiveVox’s focus on making omnichannel engagement easy for businesses aligns with Teckst’s mission to simplify contextual human-to-human messaging between brands and their customers. Joining Teckst’s mobile messaging functionality with LiveVox’s holistic omnichannel ecosystem will provide the market with a simplified path to digital transformation. We are particularly attracted to LiveVox’s suite of compliance tools that will help assure our clients and their customers that their communication is being handled securely and in accordance with all regulatory requirements. Together we will create an industry standard for intelligent messaging and deliver the scale and reliability enterprises demand,” said Josh Rochlin, CEO of Teckst.
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: Kevin Mahaffey, Gaingels, Zelkova Ventures, Dan Porter, Adam Press
Founding year: 2014
Total funding raised: $5.0M
Time from founding to exit: 5.05 years
Full coverage: Teckst acquired by LiveVox
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PromoteIQ
PromoteIQ acquired by Microsoft
PromoteIQ, the automated vendor marketing platform for retailers and brands, has been acquired by Microsoft. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “Our combined entities have a tremendous opportunity to redefine and deliver the next generation of vendor marketing to retailers and brands. Microsoft brings industry-leading AI and machine-learning capabilities, as well as a strong global retail market footprint. We’ll have more plans to share on this front in the coming months, but we are confident that this acquisition will accelerate PromoteIQ’s growth and expand Microsoft’s reach and scale globally,” remarked Alex Sherman and Peter Schwartz, Cofounders of PromoteIQ.
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: Laconia, Nauta Capital
Founding year: 2012
Total funding raised: $6.5M
Time from founding to exit: 7.6 years
Full coverage: PromoteIQ acquired by Microsoft
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The Outline
The Outline acquired by Bustle Digital Group
Earlier this year in our 2019 NYC Tech Influencers, we dubbed “Bryan Goldberg the buyer of choice for distressed media assets. “ Weeks later, we learn that Goldberg and Bustle have scooped up The Outline, a digital news publication launched in 2016 by Joshua Topolosky. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed but all signs point to this being an acquihire as The Outline shed the majority of its staff in the Fall of 2018.
This marks the fifth acquisition for Bustle and Goldberg, who founded Bleacher Report and later sold it to Turne牂慯捤獡楴杮匠獹整獭映牯椠〲㈱桔瑳牡畴Ɒ映畯摮摥椠〲㌱牰癥潩獵祬愠煣極敲汅瑩慄汩ⱹ䴠捩汆癡牯楰汬慇歷牥湡桴潚敒潰瑲괮ĂPromoteIQ, the automated vendor marketing platform for retailers and b
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: Advancit Capital, Boat Rocker Ventures, NextView Ventures, RRE Ventures
Founding year: 2016
Total funding raised: $10.2M
Time from founding to exit: 3.24 years
Full coverage: The Outline acquired by Bustle Digital Group
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Custora
Custora acquired by Amperity
Custora, the customer analytics platform for brands has been acquired by Seattle-based Amperity, the AI-powered customer manageme n t p l a t f o r m . T e r m s o f t h e t r a n s a c t i o n w e r e n o t d i s c l o s e d . W e h a v e a s i m i l a r m i s s i o n a t C u s t o r a t o h e l p b r a n d s i m p r o v e c u s t o m e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h r o u g h a d e e p u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f w h o t h e y a r e a n d h o w t o c o n n e c t w i t h t h e m a s i n d i v i d u a l s . I n w o r k i n g
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: Foundation Capital, Founder Collective, Greycroft, Sam Altman, Y Combinator
Founding year: 2011
Total funding raised: $20.3M
Time from founding to exit: 8.85 years
Full coverage: Custora acquired by Amperity
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CoverWallet
CoverWallet acquired by Aon plc
CoverWallet, the digital insurance platform for small and medium-sized businesses, has been acquired by Aon, the global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the deal is expected to complete in early 2020. “We started CoverWallet to reinvent commercial insurance. By building our customer-centric platform and leveraging advanced data science, beautiful design, and state-of-the-art technology, we have been able to simplify insurance,” said Inaki Berenguer, CEO and Cofounder of CoverWallet. “Aon’s shared vision means we can continue pushing the boundaries of innovation into new markets and new products at a greater scale.”
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Foundation Capital, Two Sigma Ventures
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: $28.3M
Time from founding to exit: 4.22 years
Full coverage: CoverWallet acquired by Aon plc
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Resy
Resy acquired by American Express
Restaurant reservation and management platform Resy, which calls itself the largest private reservation service in the US, is being acquired by American Express. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “American Express is a brand that we have admired and sought to partner with from our inception. There are myriad points of synergy between Resy and American Express that we look forward to pursuing together in the name of creating an end-to-end global dining platform that thrills both diners and restaurants alike. As it does today, Resy will continue to focus on delivering world-class hospitality software to our amazing restaurant partners, connecting diners to insider experiences, and reimagining the future of dining,” remarked Ben Leventhal, Resy cofounder and CEO.
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: Airbnb, First Data, Lerer Hippeau, RSE Ventures, Slow Ventures
Founding year: 2014
Total funding raised: $45.0M
Time from founding to exit: 5.37 years
Full coverage: Resy acquired by American Express
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littleBits Electronics
littleBits Electronics acquired by Sphero
littleBits Electronics, the open-source library and maker of electronic modules and kits to foster STEM learning, has been acquired by Boulder-based Sphero. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “When I studied engineering, it was top-down, test-based,” said Ayah Bdeir, founder of littleBits. “I hated it and wanted to quit every semester. Then I got exposed to the pedagogy of learning through play and my life changed; no one could peel me away from learning, inventing, creating. Together, littleBits and Sphero are now bringing this experience to kids everywhere.”
Price: Terms not disclosed
Selected investors in the round: Khosla Ventures, MIT Media Lab, Morgan Stanley, True Ventures, Wamda Capital
Founding year: 2011
Total funding raised: $70.1M
Time from founding to exit: 7.98 years
Full coverage: littleBits Electronics acquired by Sphero
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Spacious
Spacious acquired by The We Company (Already shuttered)
WeWork or The We Company has agreed to acquire Spacious, the coworking outfit that offers space in restaurants during the day. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed but the Information has reported that the transaction was worth $42M; half in stock and half in cash. “In WeWork, we have found much natural alignment across our visions for the integration of work, technology, and physical space. We’re thrilled for the opportunity to continue to serve our members at Spacious today as part of the greater WeWork community,” remarked Preston Presek, Cofounder and CEO of Spacious. Spacious has been closed as of 12/31/2019.
Price: $42.5M
Selected investors in the round: August Capital, BoxGroup, Lerer Hippeau, MetaProp NYC, Redpoint
Founding year: 2016
Total funding raised: $9.1M
Time from founding to exit: 3.65 years
Full coverage: Spacious acquired by The We Company
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Fullstack Academy
Fullstack Academy acquired by Zovio
Coding bootcamp Full Stack Academy has been acquired by higher education company Bridgepoint Education in a transaction that has a potential value of approximately $50M. The terms of the deal include $17.5M in cash along with 2.5M shares of Bridgepoint, which is currently trading at $6.74 as of this writing (an additional $16.85M). The acquisition terms also call for an additional 2.25M shares if milestones are met. “By joining Bridgepoint Education, we’ll not only gain a like-minded partner dedicated to innovative education, but a partner that can help us scale our own mission to make technology education and careers a reality for more people around the country,” said Nimit Maru, cofounder, Fullstack Academy.
Price: $50.8M
Selected investors in the round: Y Combinator
Founding year: 2013
Total funding raised: Undisclosed
Time from founding to exit: 5.7 years
Full coverage: Fullstack Academy acquired by Zovio
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Food52
Food52 acquired by TCG Capital
Food52, the content and commerce destination for those interested in cooking and food that has an active community of over 16M, has been acquired by TCG Capital Management, an affiliate of The Chernin Group, the media holding company founded by broadcast executive Peter Chernin in 2009. The exact terms of the transaction were not disclosed but TCG acquired a majority stake in the company for $83M with a total valuation exceeding $100M. A little back of the envelope math indicates that the max value of the deal is $162.75M if Chernin acquired 51% for that $83M figure.
“Our true north star is our community and our dogged belief that many is better than one,” said Merrill Stubbs, Food52 Cofounder and President. “We met our ideal partner in TCG, which shares our vision and values for building a community-driven consumer brand.”
Price: $83.0M
Selected investors in the round: Lerer Hippeau, LocalGlobe, BDMI, Scripps Networks, 14W
Founding year: 2009
Total funding raised: $96.3M
Time from founding to exit: 10.26 years
Full coverage: Food52 acquired by TCG Capital
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The Laundress
The Laundress acquired by Unilever
The Laundress, an eco-friendly maker of high-end laundry detergent and cleaning supplies, was acquired by Unilever as Unilever looks to expand its eco-friendly offering. While the deals of the transaction were not publicly disclosed, sources with knowledge of the transaction have pegged the acquisition price of the deal at $100M. The UBS banker who led Unilever’s acquisition of Dollar Shave Club spearheaded this transaction as well. “We are thrilled to join the Unilever family. Together we have a unique opportunity to magnify and accelerate our mission of bringing our eco-friendly, fabric care products to every laundry room in the world,” remarked Lindsey Boyd, cofounder of The Laundress.
Price: $100.0M
Selected investors in the round: No outside investment
Founding year: 2004
Total funding raised: No Outside investment
Time from founding to exit: 14.59 years
Full coverage: The Laundress acquired by Unilever
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Anchor
Anchor acquired by Spotify
Streaming music service Spotify has acquired two NYC podcasting startups – Gimlet Media and Anchor. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed but reports pegged Gimlet’s acquisition price to be north of $200M. “These acquisitions will meaningfully accelerate our path to becoming the world’s leading audio platform give users around the world access to the best podcast content and improve the quality of our listening experience as well as enhance the Spotify brand,” said Daniel Ek Spotify cofounder and CEO. “We are proud to welcome Gimlet and Anchor to the Spotify team and we look forward to what we will accomplish together.”
Price: $140.0M
Selected investors in the round: Accel, Betaworks, GV, Omidyar Network, Tuesday Capital
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: $14.4M
Time from founding to exit: 4.1 years
Full coverage: Anchor acquired by Spotify
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Athena Art Finance
Athena Art Finance acquired by YieldStreet
YieldStreet, the alternative investment platform for retail investors, has agreed to acquire Athena Art Finance from the Carlyle Group and its co-investors for $170M. “Athena is the leading provider of credit solutions for the global art market and has scaled the business with strong growth and asset performance. Art financing is an attractive asset class with typically low correlation to the stock market and low loan-to-values, providing what we believe is both an exciting and sound new investment option for our investor community of more than 100,000 members,” remarked Milind Mehere, Cofounder & CEO of YieldStreet.
Price: $170.0M
Selected investors in the round: The Carlyle Group, Pictet Private Equity Investors S.A.
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: $280.0M
Time from founding to exit: 3.78 years
Full coverage: Athena Art Finance acquired by YieldStreet
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Gimlet Media
Gimlet Media acquired by Spotify
Streaming music service Spotify has acquired two NYC podcasting startups – Gimlet Media and Anchor. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed but reports pegged Gimlet’s acquisition price to be north of $200M. “These acquisitions will meaningfully accelerate our path to becoming the world’s leading audio platform give users around the world access to the best podcast content and improve the quality of our listening experience as well as enhance the Spotify brand,” said Daniel Ek Spotify cofounder and CEO. “We are proud to welcome Gimlet and Anchor to the Spotify team and we look forward to what we will accomplish together.”
Price: $200.0M
Selected investors in the round: Betaworks, Emerson Collective, Lowercase Capital, MaC Venture Capital, Stripes
Founding year: 2014
Total funding raised: $28.5M
Time from founding to exit: 5.1 years
Full coverage: Gimlet Media acquired by Spotify
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Cheddar
Cheddar acquired by Altice USA
Cheddar, the digital-first video news network, has been acquired by Altice USA, the US unit of Dutch cable provider Altice, for $200M in an all-cash transaction. Altice USA was formed when Altice acquired Optimum from Cablevision. Altice had been a distribution partner for, and investor in, Cheddar. “The Altice team and Altice Way are as entrepreneurial as it gets with amazing markets, world-class local and international news, an amazing broadband network, and a soon to launch mobile offering. I can’t wait for Cheddar to begin working with Altice’s team,” said Jon Steinberg, Founder and CEO of Cheddar.
Price: $200.0M
Selected investors in the round: Amazon, AT&T, Comcast Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Ribbit Capital
Founding year: 2016
Total funding raised: $54.0M
Time from founding to exit: 3.33 years
Full coverage: Cheddar acquired by Altice USA
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Managed by Q
Managed by Q acquired by The We Company (in the process of being sold)
The We Company, which we all know as WeWork, has agreed to acquire Managed by Q, the platform for office management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed but sources indicate that the deal is a combination of equity and cash. Reports peg the acquisition price to be in the neighborhood of $200M to $250M. “We are excited for this incredible opportunity to deepen our commitment to realizing our ambitious vision of building an operating system for the built world,” remarked Dan Teran, Cofounder and CEO of Managed by Q. “WeWork is uniquely positioned to invest in workplace technology and services, and I look forward to partnering with their team to build more robust products for our clients and create a global platform to help companies push the bounds on our collective potential.”
Price: $225.0M
Selected investors in the round: David Stern, FJ Labs, GV, RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures
Founding year: 2013
Total funding raised: $97.4M
Time from founding to exit: 5.34 years
Full coverage: Managed by Q acquired by The We Company
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Dynamic Yield
Dynamic Yield acquired by McDonald’s
AI-powered personalization platform Dynamic Yield has been acquired by McDonald’s. The terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed but sources with knowledge of the transaction have pegged the total amount to be north of $300M. “We started Dynamic Yield seven years ago with the premise that customer-centric brands must make personalization a core activity. We’re thrilled to be joining an iconic global brand such as McDonald’s and are excited to innovate in ways that have a real impact on people’s daily lives,” said Liad Agmon, cofounder and CEO of Dynamic Yield.
Price: $300.0M
Selected investors in the round: Bessemer Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital, Naver Corporation, The New York Times, Vertex Ventures
Founding year: 2011
Total funding raised: $105.3M
Time from founding to exit: 8.23 years
Full coverage: Dynamic Yield acquired by McDonald’s
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Quovo
Quovo acquired by Vice Media
Flatiron-based Quovo, the platform that provides access for and connects financial investment applications to wealth management accounts at traditional financial institutions, has been acquired by SF-based Plaid, which operates in a similar space connecting consumer apps to retail banking. The terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed but sources indicate the value of the transaction is just shy of $200M when accounting for all performance bonuses and contingencies.
Price: $400.0M
Selected investors in the round: Eight Roads Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Portag3 Ventures, IGM Financial
Founding year: 2010
Total funding raised: $133.4M
Time from founding to exit: 9.76 years
Full coverage: Refinery29 acquired by Vice Media
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Trilogy Education Services
Trilogy Education Services acquired by 2U Inc.
Trilogy Education, a white-label platform for universities to offer educational bootcamps for coding, data analytics, UX/UI, and cybersecurity, has been acquired by 2U, a diversified education technology company, for $750M. The deal is a combination of cash ($4 0 0 M ) a n d s t o c k ( $ 3 5 0 M ) . B y j o i n i n g f o r c e s w i t h 2 U , T r i l o g y E d u c a t i o n c a n e m p o w e r u n i v e r s i t i e s t o r e a c h m o r e s t u d e n t s , i n m o r e p l a c e s , t h r o u g h o u
Price: $750.0M
Selected investors in the round: City Light Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Macquarie Group, Prudential Financial, Rethink Education
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: $80.0M
Time from founding to exit: 3.6 years
Full coverage: Trilogy Education Services acquired by 2U Inc.
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CTRL-labs
CTRL-labs acquired by Facebook
CTRL-labs, the startup that’s working on a neural interface technology that uses an armband to capture just your thoughts and movements as digital signals, has agreed to be acquired by Facebook. While the terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the deal has yet to close, it has been reported that the transaction value is between $500M and $1B with Facebook indicating that the transaction was less than $1B. The deal was announced in a Facebook post by Facebook Vice President of AR/VR Andrew Bosworth.
“We know there are more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology. And we want to build them. The vision for this work (CTRL-labs) is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement. Here’s how it’ll work: You have neurons in your spinal cord that send electrical signals to your hand muscles telling them to move in specific ways such as to click a mouse or press a button. The wristband will decode those signals and translate them into a digital signal your device can understand, empowering you with control over your digital life. It captures your intention so you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible movement or just by, well, intending to,” remarked Bosworth.
Price: $1.0B
Selected investors in the round: Spark Capital, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, GV, Vulcan Capital
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: $67.0M
Time from founding to exit: 4.24 years
Full coverage: CTRL-labs acquired by Facebook
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Harry’s
Harry’s acquired by Edgewell Personal Care
Direct-to-consumer shaving startup Harry’s has agreed to be acquired by Edgewell Personal Care, the parent company to Schick and other personal care brands that include Edge, Wilkinson Sword, Banana Boat, Playtex, Stayfree, and Hawaiian Tropic. The transaction is a combination of cash and stock with over $1.08B or 79% coming in cash. “When we launched Harry’s six years ago our vision was to create a grooming brand that better met our needs as consumers, and over time, a CPG platform that creates brands people love across more categories. Together with Edgewell, we see a significant opportunity to continue delivering on that vision, leveraging Edgewell’s advanced technology and global footprint alongside our customer-first approach, brand building expertise and omnichannel capabilities. We’re incredibly proud of the brands we’ve created and the team we’ve built, and have tremendous respect for Edgewell and its established brand portfolio. We look forward to what we can accomplish together,” remarked Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Harry’s.
Price: $1.4B
Selected investors in the round: BoxGroup, Highland Capital Partners, Temasek Holdings, Tiger Global Management, Wellington Management
Founding year: 2012
Total funding raised: $375.2M
Time from founding to exit: 7.36 years
Full coverage: Harry’s acquired by Edgewell Personal Care
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