Dec 22, 2021 - Economy

MicroAcquire raises $5 million for its startup sale marketplace

Kia Kokalitcheva

Illustration of a handshake, repeated backward several times. — Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

MicroAcquire, an M&A marketplace for small profitable internet businesses, tells Axios that it's raised an additional $5 million at an $80 million valuation, just months after closing $6.3 million in seed funding from firms like Shrug Capital.

Why it matters: Only a small percentage of startups raise venture capital, and an even smaller sliver make it to IPO or a broker-led sale process, so platforms like this could open more realistic exit paths for typical entrepreneurs.

Details: Founded in January 2020, MicroAcquire says it has more than 100,000 registered buyers, more than 2,000 companies listed for sale, and has facilitated more than 500 deals with a combined value of more than $200 million.

It currently generates revenue by charging buyers a subscription fee to have full access to the listed startups and be able to contact them, although it plans to start taking a transaction fee (2-3%) next year, says founder Andrew Gazdecki.
It's also added a marketplace for deal vendors like lawyers, advisors and bankers, and has inked partnerships with AngelList and Pipe for deal financing (though most sales are still done fully in cash).
This latest cash infusion was prompted by existing backer Shrug Capital, with other existing investors jumping in to fill out the round within three days.

The bottom line: While MicroAcquire serves small, mostly bootstapped companies, Gazdecki has much larger (and VC-funded) ambitions: "We don’t want to participate in the M&A market—we want to create the M&A market," he tells Axios.

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MicroAcquire raises $5 million for its startup sale marketplace

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