Last fall, we published an article called “The Departed,” which celebrated all of the startups that have either been acquired, merged with another company or shut down altogether in 2016. We even had an event to go with it called BostInno Departed, where we gathered at an Irish pub and raised a glass to those who have passed.
As a better way to keep track of startups that are no longer independent or that no longer exist, we’re turning The Departed into a monthly roundup. For February, we saw no reports of Boston-area startups shutting down, but there were six that were either acquired or merged with another company.
The Shuttered:
As far as we could tell, no startups shut down in February.
The Merged and Acquired:
• Cegment, a Boston edtech startup, was acquired by CampusLogic, an Arizona fintech company specializing in financial aid. Terms weren’t disclosed.
• Data3Sixty, a cloud-based data governance provider based in Westwood, Mass., was acquired by Infogix, an Illinois data and analytics software company. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
• Innosight, a provider of growth consulting services based in Lexington, Mass., has reached a deal to be acquired by Chicago-based Huron (Nasdaq: HURN) for $100 million. Huron is a global professional services firm.
• Kendall Research Systems, a Cambridge-based neurotech spin-out from MIT, was acquired by Kernel, a Los Angeles-based human intelligence company. With the acquisition, Kernel said it plans to “build next-generation neural interfaces” for research and clinical applications. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
• MediaSilo, a Boston-based provider of video collaboration software, merged with Los Angeles-based Wiredrive, a provider of secure media-sharing and collaboration software for creative professionals. The combined entity also raised $7 million from Boston-based Schooner Capital to support its growth. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.
Other Deals:
• Grapevine, a Boston-based influencer marketing platform for YouTube and Instagram, has reached a deal to sell a majority stake in the company to Chinese media mogul Bruno Wu. Wu is the founder and CEO of Sun Seven Stars Entertainment & Media Group Limited, one of the largest private media and investment conglomerates in China, through which he launched a $1.6 billion film and TV fund in 2015. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. We wrote more about the deal here.
If you think there’s a startup missing from this list, email me at dylan@americaninno.com/boston.
