European Startups Accelerate Acquisition Activity

European startups are aggressively pursuing acquisitions as IPO opportunities remain limited. VC-backed companies closed 95 M&A deals in September, the highest monthly count in over two years.

Acqui-hiring drives significant activity. London AI recruitment firm Jack & Jill plans to buy talent-rich struggling companies, offering salaries up to £240,000 from its $20 million seed round.

Milan-based Bending Spoons leads debt-fueled rollups. The decacorn acquired AOL, Vimeo, and Evernote, raising $2.8 billion in debt plus $270 million in equity this year. Established buyers like Oslo's Visma completed seven acquisitions while US firm Banyan Software and Belgian unicorn Team. Blue remains active.

French decacorn Mistral raised €1.7 billion, including €1.3 billion from ASML, and hired an M&A engineer for strategic deals. German defense unicorn Quantum Systems secured €160 million and bought four European drone companies this year.

Dutch autonomous flight startup Destinus acquired Zurich-based Daedalean for $225 million and Dutch UAV maker Aerialtronics. UK AI cloud startup Nscale raised $1.5 billion across two rounds and appointed an M&A VP.

Paris charging network Electra secured €433 million in debt, partly for acquisitions. Finnish OURA joined the decacorn club with $900 million Series E after buying health analytics firms. London ecommerce firm Shop Circle extended Series B to $100 million with multiple acquisitions planned.