The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups 2021 WHAT IS CB INSIGHTS? CB Insights helps the world’s leading companies make smarter technology decisions with data, not opinion. Our Technology Insights Platform provides companies with comprehensive data, expert insights and work management tools to drive growth and improve operations with technology. SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL Artificial intelligence companies are a prime acquisition target for companies looking to leverage AI tech without building it from scratch. In the race for AI, this is who’s leading the charge. Artificial intelligence has long been a major focus for tech leaders across industries. From healthcare to retail to agriculture, companies are trying to integrate machine learning (ML) into their products. At the same time, there is an acute shortage of AI talent. This combination is fueling a heated race to scoop up top AI startups, many of which are still in the early stages of research and funding. In this report, we dig into AI acquisition trends, from which companies are making the most acquisitions to what areas of focus are attracting the most attention. The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 3 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups Apple pulls ahead of the pack The usual suspects are leading the race for AI: tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Apple (FAMGA) have all been aggressively acquiring AI startups for the last decade. Among FAMGA, Apple leads the way. With 29 total AI acquisitions since 2010, the company has made nearly twice as many acquisitions as second-place Google (the frontrunner from 2012 to 2016), with 15 acquisitions. Apple and Google are followed by Microsoft with 13 acquisitions, Facebook with 12, and Amazon with 7. The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 4 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups Apple’s AI acquisition spree, which has helped it overtake Google in recent years, has been essential to the development of new iPhone features. For example, FaceID, the technology that allows users to unlock their iPhones by looking at them, stems from Apple’s M&A moves in chips and computer vision, including the acquisition of AI company RealFace. In fact, many of FAMGA’s prominent products and services — such as Apple’s Siri or Google’s contributions to healthcare through DeepMind — came out of acquisitions of AI companies. Other top acquirers include major tech players like Intel, Salesforce, Twitter, and IBM. The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 5 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups Despite a pandemic-year slump, the AI sector remains hot for acquirers The pace of AI acquisitions steadily rose for a decade, only falling for the first time in 2020, when acquisitions dropped 34% yearover-year (YoY). The decline came amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought on economic uncertainty that led many companies to emphasize core operations over new acquisitions. Nevertheless, the space continues to attract acquirer attention, with 90+ acquisitions in 2021 YTD — suggesting a possible return to the sector’s growth trajectory. The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 6 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups While tech giants lead in the space, you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to make an AI acquisition. Since 2010, there have been over 1,000 AI acquisitions made by 800+ acquirers. Of those, nearly 90% of acquirers have only made one acquisition. This is partially due to the growing diversity of acquirers. Where once AI was the exclusive territory of major tech companies, today, smaller AI startups are becoming acquisition targets for companies across retail, healthcare, insurance, and more. For example, in May 2021 retail giant Walmart acquired virtual clothing try-on startup Zeekit, while MindMed’s $32M acquisition of AI-powered clinical trials startup HealthMode marked one of several healthcare AI acquisitions in the past year. In the renewable energy space, SkySpecs acquired Vertikal AI in May 2021. Especially in the last month, AI-powered HR has been another trending sector, with recent deals including: • OutMatch’s acquisition of candidate assessment platform Harver • StepStone’s acquisition of AI recruitment platform Mya Systems • PandoLogic’s acquisition of hiring platform Wade & Wendy The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 7 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups Popular sectors include NLP, retail, and healthcare Looking at acquisitions by sector, startups focused on natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision have seen the most traction, with 106 acquisitions in this space since 2010. Retail & CPG has been another popular space, with 101 acquisitions in the same time period. The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 8 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups Healthcare AI takes the third spot, with 78 acquisitions in the space. Healthcare was the leading sector for AI acquisitions in 2020, amid the global Covid-19 pandemic. Since 2020, healthcare AI acquisitions have included: • CellCarta’s acquisition of computational pathology company Reveal Biosciences • Nuance Communications’ acquisition of conversational AI startup Saykara, which offers a voice-based app for automating physician charting (note: Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Nuance in April 2021) • Olive’s acquisition of Verata Health, which leverages AI to improve the prior authorization process • Valo Health’s acquisition of biotechnology company Numerate, which applies ML algorithms to improve drug discovery Clients can read more in our Where Pharma Giants Are Betting On Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare report. The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 9 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups Additional reading This report was created with data from CB Insights’ emerging technology insights platform, which offers clarity into emerging tech and new business strategies through tools like: • Earnings Transcripts Search Engine & Analytics to get an information edge on competitors’ and incumbents’ strategies • Patent Analytics to see where innovation is happening next • Company Mosaic Scores to evaluate startup health, based on our National Science Foundation-backed algorithm • Business Relationships to quickly see a company’s competitors, partners, and more • Market Sizing Tools to visualize market growth and spot the next big opportunity If you aren’t already a client, sign up for a free trial to learn more about our platform. The Race For AI: Which Tech Giants Are 10 Snapping Up Artificial Intelligence Startups
关注微信
