Acquirers snap up boom-era startups that haven't raised funding in years

Crunchbase data shows several large acquisitions this year involve startups that haven't raised funding in over four years, such as Uber's $2.3B cash purchase of ezCater. These companies sell at valuations well below peaks but survive through cost cuts and extended runways.

• Top US funding rounds: AI drives varied megadeals2026-10-23
• Firms tighten AI budgets, pressuring OpenAI and Anthropic2026-10-23
• Uber rolls out ChatGPT Work to over 30,000 employees2026-10-22
• Crunchbase: 195 AI startups acquired so far this year2026-10-21
• Crunchbase: four AI firms took 65% of Q1 VC funding2026-10-20