According to data from our friends at Crunchbase, there were 238 acquisitions of New York companies in 2016. Today, I shine a spotlight on 20 notable 2016 NYC startup acquisitions. I have included the acquiree, the acquirer, transaction amount (when available), as well as investors and total financing raised by the target.
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Everyday Health
Everyday Health, the digital media company that’s focused on the production and distribution of content related to health and wellness was acquired for $465M by Ziff Davis, the digital media giant. Founded by Michael Keriokos and Benjamin Wolin in 2002, Everyday Health had raised $90.73M in equity funding from investors that included Foundation Capital, Rho Ventures, Scale Ventures Partners, and TCV prior to its IPO in 2014.
Tapad
Norwegian telecom giant Telenor acquired Tapad, the AdTech firm that has built the infrastructure to serve integrated marketing content across various devices using collected data, for $360M. Founded by Are Traasdahl and Dag Liodden in 2010, Tapad raised a total of $35.8M in funding from investors that included FirstMark Capital, Avalon Ventures, Battery Ventures, and Barry Silbert.
Yodle
Web.com acquired Yodle, a platform for local online marketing, for $342M. Founded in 2005 by Ben Rubenstein, Nathaniel Stevens, Kartik Hosanagar, John Berkowitz, and Milind Mehere, Yodle raised a total of $40M from investors that included Icon Ventures, DFJ, and Bessemer Ventures Partners.
Gilt Groupe
Hudson’s Bay Company, the retail holding company that owns department stores such as Lord & Taylor and Saks, acquired Gilt Groupe, the online shopping destination for luxury brands, for $250M. Founded in 2007 by Kevin Ryan, Michael Bryzek, Dwight Merriman, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, and Alexis Maybank, Gilt Groupe had raised a total of $271M from investors that included NEA, Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic, DFJ, and GSV Capital prior to its acquisition.
eMarketer
Axel Springer acquired eMarketer, the market research firm founded in 1996 by Terry Chabrowe, Sam Alfstad, and Geoff Ramsey, for $250M. Prior to its acquisition, eMarketer had raised $25M in one round from Stripes Group.
Gawker Media
Gawker Media, the embattled media company and blog network, was acquired by Univision for $135M after losing its lawsuit to Hulk Hogan. Gawker was founded by Nick Denton in 2002 and operated titles such as Gawker, Gizmodo, Deadspin, and Fleshbot.
Olapic
Monotype acquired Olapic, the visual marketing platform, for $130M. Founded by Jose De Cabo, Pau Sabria, and Luis Sanz in 2010, Olapic had raised $21.09M prior to its acquisition over 4 rounds. Investors included Fabrice Grinda, Brad Harrison, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Michael Lazerow, and Unilever Ventures.
Angel.ai
Amazon acquired Angel.ai, the digital messaging assistant for commerce using NLP. The company founded by Maximilian Deilmann, Pierluigi Ferrari, Joko Winterscheidt, Jens Urbaniak in 2015 had raised $8M in external financing from investors that included BoxGroup, Fabrice Grinda, and Ashton Kutcher prior to its acquisition.
PuzzleSocial
PuzzleSocial, the maker of the most-solved and top-grossing daily digital crossword puzzle, was acquired by game developer Zynga. The company founded by Jeb Balise in 2010 had raised $4.7M across 4 rounds from investors that included Mark Wachen and Upstage Ventures.
Hightower
Hightower, the commercial real estate leasing management platform was acquired by VTS. Founded by Niall Smart, Donald DeSantis, and Brandon Weber in 2013, Hightower had raised $21.66MM over 4 rounds from investors that included Gary Vaynerchuk, David Tisch, BoxGroup, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Peerform
Versara Lending acquired Peerform, the peer-to-peer lending platform for fixed rate personal loans. Prior to its acquisition, Peerform had raised $5.3M from Corporest Development.
Citymaps
Tripadvisor acquired Citymaps, the social mapping community organized by interests. Founded by Elliot Cohen and Aaron Rudestine in 2010, Citymaps had raised $12M from investors that included Ashton Kutcher, Nokia Growth Partners, and A-Grade Investments prior to its acquisition.
BeautyBooked
StyleSeat acquired BeautyBooked, the online booking engine for salons and spas. Founded by Ritika Gill and Hillary Hutcheson in 2013, Beauty Booked had raised a single round of $775K from investors that included ARC Angel Fund, New York Angels, and New York Venture Partners.
VerbalizeIt
Smartling acquired VerbalizeIt, the online language translation platform. The company founded in 2011 by Kunal Sarda and Ryan Frankel had raised $2.45M prior to its acquisition. Investors included Techstars, Marc Bell Ventures, and Right Side Capital Management.
Dash
Dash, the mobile payment platform that allows you to pay your tab from your phone was acquired by Reserve. Founded by Jeffrey McGregor and Gennardy Spirin in 2011, Dash had raised a total of $6.9M in financing from investors that included Great Oaks Venture Capital, the New York Angels, and Brooklyn Incubator.
Chalkable
Chalkable, the apps tore for schools and digital education tools was acquired by PowerSchool. Founded in 2010 by Zoli Honig and Michael Levy, Chalkable had raised $1.3M in external financing in one round. Investors in the company included 500 Startups, Expansion Venture Capital, and Prolific Venture Capital.
Arbor
LiveRamp acquired arbor, the marketplace for people-based data. Founded in 2014 by Nikhil Dixit, David Yaffe, and John Graettinger, Arbor had raised a total of $9.05M across 2 rounds prior to its acquisition. Investors included First Round Capital, Canaan Partners, Great Oaks Venture Capital, and Zach Weinberg.
Coinsetter
Kraken Bitcoin Exchange acquired Coinsetter, the forex-trading platform for Bitcoin. Founded in 2012 by Yo Sub Kwon and Jason Lukasiewicz, Coinsetter received $3.05M in investment over 4 rounds from investors that include Digital Currency Group, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Blockchain Capital.
Voyat
Voyat, the marketing platform connecting hotels and guests, was acquired by Intent Media. The company founded by Bob Lund and Benjamin Habbel received $1.8M in investment across 2 rounds. Investors include BoxGroup, Scout Ventures, Eniac Ventures, and Barry Silbert.
Forensiq
Impact Radius acquired Forensiq, the technology built to eliminate fraud in advertising. David Sendroff founded the company in 2010.
