Scrolling through the marketplace to find startups you like is fun at first. The thrill of the chase may fade when you realize how many startups we list. Finding startups that match your acquisition criteria from 1,000s of listings can take a while – even with our filters – so why not leave it to us?
From today, when you sign up as a buyer on Acquire.com (or view the listings page), we’ll ask you to enter your acquisition criteria. With just a few questions, we’ll build a picture of your goals and then recommend matching startups, saving you hours of searching for the best deals.
But that’s not all. If you look beyond our recommendations to the wider marketplace, you can now create and manage custom shortlists on any criteria, be it TTM revenue, SaaS, or another keyword. That way, startups that catch your eye are always just a click or two away.
What Matters More Than Your Acquisition Criteria?
The “best” deal for you may differ from that of another buyer. For example, you might be interested in growing a portfolio of SaaS companies you plan to exit in three years. An ecommerce site selling custom jewelry, therefore, probably won’t be on your radar, no matter how profitable it is. But the same might also be true of certain SaaS startups.
Maybe your experience is in real estate technology and you want to stick to that niche. Maybe you’re only interested in SaaS above a certain profit threshold. Whatever the reason, you could spend hours researching businesses just to compile a shortlist from marketplace listings.
With buyer recommendations, you skip that first step. Instead of qualifying which startups deserve your attention, you simply choose from the best picks, leaving you more time for initial conversations, negotiations, diligence, and more.
How Do Buyer Recommendations Work?
Your recommendations start when signing up, so we’ll start there. If you’re already a buyer, no worries, you can still enter your criteria and get recommendations from the listings page.
Which Startup Types Interest You?
We kick things off by asking which startup types interest you. These are broad categories that help us carve out sections of the marketplace to narrow down your search.
What’s Your Ideal Asking Price Range?
You probably have a budget in mind for your acquisition. We don’t ask for a precise number but a range. Consider your preferred purchase price versus the one you’d pay if the startup ticked all your boxes – your absolute walkaway price.
What’s Your Ideal TTM Revenue Range?
The revenue range gives us an idea of the size of startup you want to acquire and its maturity. We also know whether pre-revenue businesses are off the table, too (typically the case with financial buyers but not so often with strategic buyers).
What’s Your Ideal TTM Profit Range?
Profitable, growing startups are always in high demand, so setting up buyer recommendations can help you grab a great business before other buyers finish building their shortlists.
Which Industries, Business Models, and Tech Stacks Interest You?
Although we offer you suggestions, you can also enter your own keywords to clarify your targets. Don’t settle for approximations unless you want to keep your options open.
In Which Countries Would You Prefer Your Startup to Reside?
When acquiring an online business, which you can usually run from anywhere in the world, you might think location doesn’t matter. But complications can arise due to clashing cultures, languages, and currencies. Even in the startup world, location can be everything.
Browse Our Recommendations
Once you’ve entered your acquisition criteria, your deals dashboard will list potential matches at the top under Based on your criteria. Below, you’ll also see our top marketplace picks. Although not personalized to you, our picks come from the curation team’s standout startups.
Track Your Favorite Startups Easier Than Ever
We might not find your dream startup first time, but the marketplace is always changing, with new listings and startups getting Acquire’d every day. If newly-listed startups match your criteria, we’ll add them to your recommendations automatically.
In the meantime, you might want to continue browsing the marketplace. Save time by creating custom lists of your favorite startups you can access quickly. It takes a few seconds to create a list that could save you precious hours later when evaluating acquisition candidates.
How to Create a Custom Startup List
- Click the favorite icon on any startup to bring up the list menu.
To start, you won’t have any lists, but this would also be the place to add a startup to a list you’ve already created.
- Enter a name and description for your list.
Choose a name that categorizes your list so it’s easy to refer to later, such as “B2B SaaS”, or in the example below, “Maybe later” for businesses you’ll investigate next.
- Click Create list to create your list.
You’ll now see your list on the left under My favorites.
All lists are editable – you can update, add to, and remove lists at any time.
Want Us to Match You to the Best Listings?
Sign up for your buyer account now and we’ll ask for your acquisition criteria before taking you to the marketplace. If you already have a buyer account, log in and click Listings (at the top left) and then Your recommendations from the dropdown box. Finally, click Enter criteria.
The more information you give us, the better your recommendations are. Let us know if your criteria change by clicking Edit criteria from the top-right of the recommendations page. We’ll instantly update your recommendations to reflect those changes.
If you have any questions about the recommendations process, drop us a line at support@acquire.com. We’d love to hear from you!
The content on this site is not intended to provide legal, financial or M&A advice. It is for information purposes only, and any links provided are for your convenience. Please seek the services of an M&A professional before entering into any M&A transaction. It is not Acquire’s intention to solicit or interfere with any established relationship you may have with any M&A professional.
