Startups Weekly: Why Now Is the Best Time to Buy
▼ Summary
– Cellebrite acquired Corellium for $170M, enhancing its mobile testing capabilities with $20M converted to equity.
– IBM bought Seek AI to integrate its natural language data query tech into Watsonx AI Labs in NYC.
– Collibra acquired Raito to bolster its data governance platform, focusing on managing internal data access.
– Anduril raised $2.5B in Series G funding, doubling its valuation to $30.5B with Founders Fund’s $1B investment.
– Neuralink secured $650M in Series E funding, valuing Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface startup at $9B pre-money.
The current market presents unprecedented opportunities for strategic acquisitions and investments in startups across multiple sectors. With deal activity heating up, both established corporations and venture capitalists are actively pursuing promising companies that offer innovative technologies or fill critical market gaps.
This week saw several high-profile acquisitions reshaping competitive landscapes. Cellebrite, an Israeli digital intelligence firm, secured mobile testing specialist Corellium for $170 million, strengthening its position in device forensics. Meanwhile, IBM integrated Seek AI into its Watsonx AI Labs, enhancing its natural language data query capabilities. Over in Brussels, data governance leader Collibra absorbed Raito, a startup specializing in access control for sensitive enterprise data.
In the AI hardware race, AMD made a stealthy move by acquiring Brium, a software optimization startup, signaling its intent to challenge Nvidia’s dominance. Snowflake also entered the fray with plans to purchase Crunchy Data, a PostgreSQL specialist, in a deal rumored to be worth $250 million.
Not all news was positive, however. Airtime, the video startup from Evernote’s founder, laid off staff after raising $135 million, while KiranaPro, an Indian grocery platform, confirmed a devastating cyberattack that wiped its data.
Venture funding remained robust, with several startups securing massive rounds to fuel expansion. Defense tech leader Anduril closed a staggering $2.5 billion Series G, doubling its valuation to $30.5 billion. AI coding assistant Cursor pulled in $900 million at a near-$10 billion valuation, while Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface venture, landed $650 million in Series E funding.
Smaller but equally ambitious players also made waves. Speedata, an Israeli chip startup, raised $44 million to challenge Nvidia with its analytics processing units. Obvio, leveraging AI for road safety, secured $22 million to deploy smart stop sign cameras.
Geographically, North America dominated funding activity, with AI startups alone attracting $69.7 billion in the first half of the year, far outpacing Europe and Asia combined.
Beyond AI, investors are diversifying into traditional industries ripe for disruption. Venture capitalist Elad Gil, an early backer of AI pioneers like Perplexity, is now targeting legacy businesses that can be transformed through automation and machine learning.
For those looking to capitalize on these trends, the message is clear: the current climate favors bold moves, whether through acquisitions, strategic hires, or high-growth investments.
(Source: TechCrunch)
