It's been hot, hot, hot in the D.C. metro area's tech scene this year, with November proving to be no exception. A lot of money changed hands – $95 million in local startup funding alone – but on the exit side of investments, a handful of acquisitions gave the ecosystem a well-earned boost.
Here are some of the biggest D.C.-area acquisition deals from last month:
Bitches who Brunch, a District-based brunch media brand, was acquired by adult social sports company Volo City. The acquisition extends Volo City into a content and media company serving its eight major metropolitan markets. It will also propel Bitches Who Brunch to double its staff and expand into five additional cities in 2019, including Boston, Baltimore and Miami in the first quarter.
D.C. startup Surprise Ride, which sells subscription boxes with games and STEM projects, was acquired by Nebraska-based Fat Brain Toys for undisclosed terms. You may have seen Surprise Ride on TV in recent years: It turned down offers on ABC's "Shark Tank" in 2013, but Kevin O'Leary invested $50,000 for 2.5 percent of the company in an episode of "Beyond the Tank" in 2016, at a $2 million valuation.
Kapsch TrafficCom, an Austria-based provider of transportation tech, acquired McLean-based eTrans Systems for undisclosed terms. eTrans Systems sells cloud-based services for connected and autonomous vehicles, including systems that help cars communicate, manage speed and notice road hazards.
Arlington-based consulting firm ByteCubed has acquired Pre-Game Prep from Towson, Md.-based Mixed River to build out a new product development division. Pre-Game Prep uses the HoloLens to let football players – including the Baltimore Ravens – line up against holographic opponents in practice. ByteCubed is bringing over Troy Jones from Mixed River to help lead the division, called ByteCubed Labs.
Resident banking giant Capital One has headed down south to acquire Austin-based price-comparison software maker Wikibuy for undisclosed terms. Best known for its Amazon listing comparison tools, the startup was founded in 2014 by Walt Roloson and 1-800-Contacts founder Jonathan Coon. Since launching, it has attracted about 2 million members who, through comparison shopping, have saved about $50 million.
D.C.-based edtech startup Quad Learning, creators of the American Honors program for helping community college students transfer to four-year institutions, has been acquired by international student-recruiting firm Wellspring International Education. Quad will add to its international reach with the move, and Illinois-based Wellspring will benefit from more community college clients.
Lyft officially became the owner of Capital Bikeshare after closing the acquisition of its parent company, Motivate, which operates several bikeshare programs in major metros. The deal, announced in early July, gives Lyft ownership of the corporation that accounted for 80 percent of all bikeshare rides in the U.S. last year. Early reports on the merger valued the acquisition around $250 million.
