Web-based startups had a particularly strong year, with a grand total of 62 aquisitions worth a total of $4.1 billion -- almost double both the number of deals and the dollar amount of all deals in both 2008 and 2009. In both prior years, consumer information services startups saw 34 acquisitions worth $2.2 billion and $715 million respectively.
So, who was making all these big acquisitions? In the web sector
Across all startup sectors, 514 companies achieved liquidity in 2010 with deals totalling $39.3 billion, up 25% from 2009 exits and much closer to the 613 exits we saw in pre-recession 2007.
Another interesting area of activity in 2010 was initial public offerings. In 2010, 46 venture-funded companies had IPOs that netted a total of $3.4 billion. That's almost five times both the number and dollar amount of IPOs last year.
Jessica Canning is Dow Jones VentureSource's director of global research. In an announcement, she said, “While it isn’t clear if companies with blockbuster potential, like Facebook and Groupon, will come to market in 2011, there is a healthy IPO pipeline. Currently, 44 companies are registered to go public, up from 25 at this time last year.”
Mergers and acquisitions were also up from 2009. Throughout 2010, a total of 445 M&As raised $33.9 billion, up 17% from last year, which saw 381 exits netting $20.8 billion. Another interesting and hopeful note: The median amount paid for a venture-backed company this year was $46 million -- that's a full 70% more than the median in 2009, a mere $27 million.
Here's a look at the past four years in M&As for consumer-facing web services:
