Venture-backed startups are often faced with one of three futures -- IPO, acquisition or failure. In this roundup, we're looking at the most important acquisitions of 2017.
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Now, let's take a look back at the Austin startups and tech companies that were acquired in 2017 -- along with some of the investors who stood to benefit from those exits.
January
CynergisTek, an Austin cybersecurity company that specializes in services for the healthcare industry, was acquired by Auxilio, Inc. Auxilio planned to pay $26.8 million in cash, stock and debt, and it offered up to $7.5 million more over the next five years if CynergisTek meets certain financial goals. CynergisTek was founded in 2004, and it does not appear to have raised any venture capital.
March
Silvercar, a tech-enabled car rental startup, was acquired by Audi. The deal was a natural fit since Silvercar, founded in 2012, built its brand around renting only silver Audi A4s and offering an easy-to-use app to get the car without waiting in the traditional lines at the airport. Audi had invested $28 million in Silvercar prior to announcing it would take a 100 percent stake. Audi didn't say how much it paid in the acquisition. Silvercar raised about $60 million total, including a round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and investment from Velos Partners and Austin Ventures.
April
Nitero, a chipmaker that specializes in wireless, was acquired by California-based AMD. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Nitero, founded in 2009, had raised more than $3.1 million from investors including Austin Ventures, Southern Cross Venture Partners and Trailblaze Capital.
RetailMeNot, a digital discounts and marketing company that went public in 2013, was taken private in a $630 million buyout by Harland Clarke Holdings Corp. RetailMeNot was founded in 2009 and raised about $300 million from investors including Austin Ventures, Google Ventures, Adams Street Partners, JP Morgan Investment and Norwest Venture Partners.
AcademicWorks, an Austin-based edtech company founded in 2010, was acquired by Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), a Charleston-based cloud software company with a 300-plus person office in Austin. No word on the value of the acquisition.
Experiment Engine, an Austin-based company, was acquired by Optimizely, a San Francisco-based software company. No financial details disclosed. Experiment Engine, an alumni of Techstars Austin, was founded in 2014 by its CEO Claire Vo, who has worked with several Austin tech companies before founding Experiment Engine. She planned to join Optimizely and manage the product and team through the integration. Experiment Engine had raised funding from Corsa Ventures, Mercury Fund, Founder Collective and Right Side Capital Management.
May
Owlchemy Labs, an Austin-based VR startup that quickly became one of the most successful VR gaming studios, was acquired by Google. No word on the price point or other details. The acquisition comes on the heels of Owlchemy Labs’ release of the new Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality game. The startup had raised a $5 million series A from Qualcomm Ventures, HTC, The VR Fund, Colopl VR Fund, Capital Factory and a few Austin entrepreneurs.
Pristine, an augmented reality startup, was acquired by Washington D.C.-based Upskill. No word on the price paid. Pristine, led by CEO Peter Evans, had raised about $5.4 million. Its investors included S3 Ventures, Capital Factory and HealthFundr.
June
Whole Foods, the long-standing organic foods grocer, was acquired by Amazon for $13.7 billion. Whole Foods, founded in 1978, IPOed in 1992. In recent years, it had faced consumer and investor pressure over its prices at a time when traditional grocers were providing more organic offerings, which had been one of Whole Foods footholds. After the acquisition, Amazon began placing some of its devices for sale in Whole Foods stores -- and the grocer also reduced prices on some of its goods.
Edgecase, an Austin-based retail data software company, was acquired by Toronto-based ecommerce company GroupBy Inc. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. As part of the move, Edgecase’s former office became GroupBy’s U.S. headquarters. Edgecase was founded in 2012 by Garrett Eastham — who was replaced as CEO by Susanne Bowen in 2015. The company had raised more than $15 million from investors including Austin Ventures, Capital Factory, Mike Maples Jr. (Floodgate) and Brett Hurt (data.world and formerly Bazaarvoice), Mack Capital and Allegro Venture Partners.
Kinnser Software, Inc., an Austin-based software developer for healthcare and hospice work, agreed to be acquired by Kansas-based Mediware Information Systems. Kinnser was owned by Insight Venture Partners. Mediware, meanwhile, is owned by TPG Capital. Kinnser was founded in 2003 by CEO Chris Hester. It had raised a $40 million Series A from Insight Venture Partners in 2012.
Mood Media Corporation, an Austin-based customer experience and engagement company, was acquired by Apollo Global Management LLC, GSO Capital Partners LP and other stakeholders. The move takes the company back into private ownership. Mood Media will keep its HQ in Austin.
July
Clearhead, an Austin digital marketing optimization company with offices in Cincinnati and London, was acquired by New York-based Accenture (NYSE: ACN). No financial terms were disclosed. Clearhead was founded in 2012 by Matty Wishnow, Ryan Garner and Sam Decker.
August
GloFish, an Austin company making bioluminescent pet fish, sold its IP for $50 million, the ABJ reported. Yorktown Technologies LP sold its GloFish brand and intellectual property to Madison-based Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc. GloFish was founded in 2001 by Alan Blake and Richard Crockett.
September
Newgistics, an Austin shipping and digital commerce startup, agreed to be acquired by Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI), a global tech company, for $475 million. Newgistics, founded in 1999, raised about $26 million between 2000 and 2013, Crunchbase shows. It flirted with an IPO in 2011, filing to raise about $86 million. But it backed off the idea. Its biggest investor, at that time, was Austin Ventures. Other investors include Littlejohn & Co. LLC,Spiegel-Hermes General Service LLC, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company and AV Labs.
October
Certain Affinity, a video game studio, accepted a $10 million investment from Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited for a 20 percent stake. Leyou also got an option to buy all the remaining shares of Certain Affinity in 2021 based on a formulation that won't exceed $150 million. Austin-based Capstar Partners is also an investor in the company.
Novati Technologies, an Austin-based company that makes semiconductors, was acquired by Albuquerque-based Skorpios Technologies Inc., the ABJ reported. Novati, founded in 2012, will lose its name and assume Skorpios’. No financial details were released. But it seems the fast-growing company probably fetched a high price given it reported $40 million in revenue last year — that was up from $4.6 million in 2012. The company makes chips for healthcare companies and the defense industry.
November
Chameleon Cold-Brew, a cold coffee maker, was acquired by Nestle for an undisclosed amount. Chameleon was founded in 2010 by Chris Campbell and Steve Williams. It had raised about $9.2 million from investors including Boulder Food Group and Fortitude Capital.
Jwaala, an Austin mobile banking software company, was acquired by Georgia-based Alogent for an undisclosed amount. Jwaala was founded by former IBM workers in 2006, and it was initially backed by Amplify Federal Credit Union with an undisclosed amount.
The intellectual property of Austin’s Hypori, Inc. was acquired by Intelligent Waves LLC. The companies announced Intelligent Waves, based in Reston, Va., purchased the Virtual Mobile Infrastructure associated intellectual property for an undisclosed price. Hypori, which makes virtual mobile infrastructure for the federal government, was founded in 2011 (it was called DroidCloud back then) and has raised about $20 million.
Bridgepoint Consulting, an Austin firm that provides financial and tech support to businesses, was acquired by Chicago-based Addison Group, a large professional services firm with 22 offices in the U.S. Bridgepoint will keep its Austin HQ and its 140 employees will remain here.
Bazaarvoice agreed to a $521 million buyout by Marlin Equity Partners, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. The company, founded in 2015 by Brett Hurt and Brant Barton, IPOed in 2012. After a damaging lawsuit, its stock declined somewhat. Earlier this year, it launched a new product, Brand Edge, a product that gives companies that don’t sell directly to consumers access to reviews and ratings. The company expected the move to draw in thousands of new customers and drive revenue.
December
Keet Health, a patient engagement startup in Austin, was acquired by Clinicient, Inc., a business solution for outpatient rehab. Keet builds digital care plans with education and messaging components to engage patients. It was founded by David Self and Jon Read in 2015.
Amplify Snack Brands, maker of Skinny Pop Popcorn, was acquired by The Hershey Company for about $1.6 billion. The company was founded in 2014, and it went public in 2015. In recent years, it acquired Austin-based Oatmega protein bars, Pacqui chips and Tyrrells potato chips.
