Millions change hands in M&A’s

There has not been a better time to own a successful startup. The industry giants are literally racing each other in search of hot new prospects so they can inject them with lots of cash. Not a day passes by where we don’t hear about a major M&A in the ICT world.

LinkedIn, the world’s largest online professional network with more than 300 million worldwide members, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bizo, a leader in business audience marketing. Bizo offers technology and products that enable measurable display, as well as social advertising programs that are specifically focused on professional audience segments. Based in San Francisco, California, Bizo was founded in 2008 by Russell Glass, Bryan Burdick, Donnie Flood, Mark Dye, Lee Byrne and Yonatan Stern.

The transaction is valued at approximately $175 million, subject to adjustment, in a combination of approximately 10 percent stock and 90 percent cash. Subject to the completion of customary conditions, the acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014.

Meanwhile, Google has just acquired Drawelements, a Finnish software company that specializes in 3D mobile technologies. The price has not been made public yet, but it is said to be worth more than $10 million. By the way, this is Google’s second acquisition in July. In the beginning of the month, they bought Songza, a music platform for $15 million.

We should also consider the firms that raised funds by selling shares, such as Quandoo, an online reservation platform. They raised $25 million last week, while elementary calendar application Sunrise raised $6 million this week.

During the same month, 10 other startups raised millions more: Prediction.io, an...