M&A Roundup

Startup Acquisitions 2026: PE Energy, SaaS + Creator Tools

Feb 13, 202648 min read
By the time you read about a "big exit" in TechCrunch, you’ve usually missed the best entry point. The edge is spotting the buyer behavior 12–24 months before the acquisition.

In February 2026, the clearest signal isn’t a flood of venture-backed exits—it’s where strategic and financial buyers are still putting real dollars to work. The largest disclosed transaction in our dataset this period is CPP Investments’ agreement to acquire a 50% stake in Peruvian power firm Inkia at a $3.4B enterprise value (alongside I Squared). On the venture-backed M&A side, the most concrete price-tag we can point to from the provided news is Freshworks acquiring Device42 for $230M (disclosed via SEC filing).

7 M&A / Exits Items Covered
$4.825B+ Disclosed Deal Value (Min.)
2 Disclosed Price Tags
PE + Strategic Most Active Buyer Type
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Key Insight: The exit market is telling us something important: buyers are prioritizing assets and infrastructure (power, royalties, IT asset discovery, operational tooling) over “nice-to-have” growth stories. Takeaway: If you’re investing early, bias your pipeline toward companies that sit in the buyer’s critical path (reliability, compliance, cost control, automation).

In This Article:

1. Headline Deals

The mainstream narrative around startup acquisitions 2026 is still “quiet exits.” The more useful interpretation: capital is concentrating into fewer, clearer mandates. The deals below show what buyers are willing to commit to—either with large checks (infrastructure/energy) or with targeted capability buys (IT ops, creator tooling, VFX/AI).

CPP Investments → Inkia (50% stake) $3.4B EV
Warwick + GRP Energy → Mineral/Royalty assets (seller: Viper Energy / Diamondback Energy sub) $670M
Oyo → G6 Hospitality (Motel 6 + Studio 6) $525M
Freshworks → Device42 $230M
  • ✓ CPP Investments to invest in Inkia alongside I Squared: CPP agreed to acquire a 50% ownership stake at a $3.4B enterprise value. Why it matters: large-scale capital is still aggressively buying essential infrastructure with durable cashflows. Actionable takeaway: prioritize early-stage picks that can become “must-own” infrastructure layers in their niche.
  • ✓ Warwick and GRP Energy acquire mineral and royalty assets for $670M: seller was Viper Energy, a subsidiary of Diamondback Energy. Why it matters: royalty/mineral exposure remains a favored risk profile—buyers want cashflow participation without operating complexity. Actionable takeaway: look for software and services that “royalty-ize” outcomes (usage-based, rev-share, embedded distribution) in other sectors.
  • ✓ Oyo acquires Motel 6 for $525M all-cash: acquisition of G6 Hospitality includes the Studio 6 brand. Why it matters: brand + distribution consolidations are back when the asset has predictable demand and operational leverage. Actionable takeaway: in vertical marketplaces, the prize is often controlling the channel—not building the fanciest product.
  • ✓ Freshworks acquires Device42 for $230M: disclosed via SEC filing; paired with a CEO transition (founder Girish Mathrubootham stepped down; Dennis Woodside appointed CEO). Why it matters: IT asset discovery/management remains a strategic adjacency for workflow SaaS. Actionable takeaway: hunt “adjacent primitives” that plug into incumbent workflows—those are the easiest to justify internally for an acquirer.
  • ✓ Autodesk acquires Wonder Dynamics: AI-powered VFX/character creation capabilities moving inside core creative toolchains. Actionable takeaway: the best AI acquisition targets are the ones that compress workflow time for a giant installed base.
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Key Insight: These headline moves cluster around cashflow durability (energy/infrastructure) and workflow control (IT ops + creative tooling). If your portfolio companies can become embedded in a buyer’s “system of record” or “system of production,” they’re more likely to command a strategic premium. Takeaway: score your pipeline on embed-ability and buyer adjacency, not just growth.

2. Strategic Acquirer Activity

Even with limited disclosed pricing, the tech M&A news in the provided set is enough to map who’s shopping and what they’re buying:

AcquirerTargetDeal TypeDisclosed ValueStrategic Motive (Observed)
FreshworksDevice42Acquisition$230MExpand IT infrastructure visibility / asset discovery inside SaaS suite
AutodeskWonder DynamicsAcquisitionUndisclosedBring AI-powered VFX/character workflows into core 3D toolchain
Bending SpoonsWeTransferAcquisitionUndisclosedAdd scaled file transfer utility + brand; maintain 30% ad space for give-back campaigns
OyoG6 Hospitality (Motel 6 + Studio 6)Acquisition$525MScale lodging footprint via established budget brands
DailyhuntKooTalks (share-swap discussed)UndisclosedConsolidate social distribution/attention assets
Arctic WolfRevelstokePlanned acquisitionUndisclosedAdd SOAR automation to cybersecurity platform
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Key Insight: Strategic buyers are not “buying AI.” They’re buying workflow leverage: AI for VFX throughput (Autodesk), automation for security operations (Arctic Wolf), asset discovery for IT operations (Freshworks). Takeaway: the best seed-stage positioning is “measurable cycle-time reduction” inside an acquirer’s existing product line.

3. IPO & Public Market Activity

The provided articles don’t include a new 2026 IPO event, but they do include two important “public-market adjacent” signals investors should treat as early exit indicators:

  • ✓ Liquidity without an IPO: Crunchbase reports on Clay using two tender offers in the past nine months to provide employee liquidity “without an exit in sight.” Takeaway: tender offers are becoming a pressure valve for late-stage companies, often preceding either extended private timelines or eventual strategic interest.
  • ✓ Valuation gravity at the top end: Anthropic’s $30B financing at a $380B post-money valuation (funding, not M&A) matters for exits because it can pull acquisition activity toward “capability tuck-ins” rather than mega-mergers. Takeaway: in periods where private mega-valuations expand, mid-market M&A often shifts to smaller, integration-friendly targets.
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Key Insight: When IPO windows are uncertain, tender offers and secondaries become the new milestone. Investors who only track IPO filings miss earlier liquidity and earlier pricing signals. Takeaway: treat tender offers as “shadow exit comps” for your category.

4. Private Equity Moves

The PE signal this period is straightforward: platform building and cashflow assets are still financeable, even as broader deal volume softness gets attention.

  • ✓ CPP Investments + I Squared → Inkia: $3.4B EV implies institutional appetite for scaled power assets. Takeaway: infrastructure is acting like a “deal-volume stabilizer” when growth equity is choppier.
  • ✓ Warwick + GRP Energy → mineral/royalty assets: $670M acquisition from Viper Energy (Diamondback Energy subsidiary). Takeaway: PE continues to like asset classes where underwriting is driven by commodity-linked cashflows and contractual structures.
  • ✓ Bertram-backed Left Lane → Don Foshay’s Discount Tire & Alignment: bolt-on acquisition for a tire retail and automotive-service platform. Takeaway: roll-ups persist in fragmented “real economy” services when there’s a clear platform thesis.
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Key Insight: PE is leaning into platform + bolt-on in services (Left Lane) and scaled cashflow assets (Inkia; mineral/royalty assets). Takeaway: early-stage startups that sell into these platforms can become acquisition targets—or critical vendors—faster than pure “new category” plays.

From the provided deal set, consolidation is showing up in a few repeatable patterns. This is where we’d focus sourcing if your mandate includes startup exits potential via strategic acquisition.

SectorDeals Mentioned (from provided news)What Buyers WantEarly-Stage Target Profile
IT Ops / SaaSFreshworks → Device42 ($230M)Infrastructure visibility, asset discoverySystem-of-record adjacencies, fast integration surface area
Creative Tools + AIAutodesk → Wonder Dynamics (undisclosed)Workflow compression inside installed baseTooling that plugs into existing creation pipelines
Cybersecurity AutomationArctic Wolf → Revelstoke (undisclosed)SOAR + operations automationOps automation with measurable response-time reduction
Consumer/Utility AppsBending Spoons → WeTransfer (undisclosed)Scaled utility + monetization leverageHigh-frequency utility products with strong retention
Travel/HospitalityOyo → Motel 6/Studio 6 ($525M)Brand + distribution + operational leverageSoftware improving unit economics for multi-site operators
Energy/InfrastructureCPP → Inkia ($3.4B EV); Warwick+GRP → royalties ($670M)Durable cashflows, scalable assetsTech-enabled monitoring, compliance, optimization layers
Energy/Infrastructure (Inkia; royalties) $4.07B disclosed
SaaS (Device42) $230M disclosed
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Key Insight: The “hot” sectors aren’t necessarily where exits are happening. Exits are clustering where integration is straightforward and ROI is provable (IT ops, security automation, creator throughput). Takeaway: invest where the buyer already has budget and an installed base.

6. Valuation Insights

We only have a handful of disclosed deal values in the provided news, so we won’t pretend we can compute sector-wide multiples. But there are still two valuation lessons investors can apply immediately:

  • ✓ Enterprise value clarity matters: Inkia is explicitly priced at $3.4B EV for a 50% stake transaction context. Implication: infrastructure buyers still anchor on EV and cashflow durability.
  • ✓ Compliance-grade disclosure matters: Freshworks’ Device42 price comes from an SEC filing. Implication: public-company acquirers are often the best source of clean comps—use these to calibrate your early-stage valuation expectations by category (especially in SaaS adjacencies).
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Key Insight: In 2026, the most investable early-stage categories are the ones where you can triangulate comps from public buyer disclosures (like Freshworks) and where ROI is legible to a CFO. Takeaway: if you can’t explain the acquirer’s internal ROI memo in three bullets, it’s not acquisition-ready.

7. What This Means for Your Portfolio

Here’s how we’d translate this week’s deal tape into portfolio actions—especially if you’re trying to get in before competitive rounds.

  • ✓ Bias toward “adjacent primitives”: Device42 is a classic example—asset discovery sits next to ITSM, security, and ops workflows. Now: source startups that slot into existing budget lines rather than inventing new ones.
  • ✓ Look for workflow time compression: Autodesk buying Wonder Dynamics signals buyers pay for tooling that shortens production cycles. Now: in AI, prioritize products that reduce hours per output, not “novel models.”
  • ✓ Expect consolidation in fragmented services: Left Lane’s bolt-on reinforces roll-up logic. Now: invest in vertical software that becomes the operating layer for roll-ups.
  • ✓ Track “pre-exit liquidity” as a category signal: Clay’s tender offers are a sign of maturity and employee-retention economics. Now: for late-stage exposure, diligence secondary dynamics and internal liquidity policies.
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Key Insight: The best early-stage entry points come from mapping what buyers are repeatedly acquiring, then backing companies one abstraction layer earlier (the data layer, the integration layer, the automation layer). Takeaway: build your pipeline around buyer “jobs-to-be-done,” not founder narratives.

8. Company Spotlights: Buyers’ Target Profile

Below are the concrete companies involved in the provided M&A and liquidity news. We’re not adding external metrics that aren’t in the articles; instead, we’re highlighting the acquisition logic and what it implies for sourcing.

Device42

SaaS / IT Asset Discovery

Acquired by Freshworks for $230M (disclosed in an SEC filing). The deal coincided with a CEO transition at Freshworks.

$230M Deal Value
Public Co. Buyer Profile

Wonder Dynamics

AI / VFX & Character Creation

Acquired by Autodesk. The startup enables creators to make complex characters and visual effects using AI-powered image analysis; the companies had worked closely together for years before the acquisition.

Undisclosed Deal Value
Workflow Buyer Thesis

WeTransfer

Utility App / File Transfer

Acquired by Bending Spoons. Bending Spoons said it will continue reserving 30% of WeTransfer’s advertising space for give-back campaigns and editorial content.

Undisclosed Deal Value
Utility Product Type

Revelstoke

Cybersecurity / SOAR Automation

Planned acquisition by Arctic Wolf (undisclosed amount). Revelstoke develops a security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) platform.

Undisclosed Deal Value
SOAR Category

Inkia

Energy / Power Infrastructure

CPP Investments agreed to acquire a 50% ownership stake in Inkia alongside I Squared, at a total enterprise value of $3.4B.

$3.4B Enterprise Value
50% Stake Acquired

9. The “Pre-Exit” Liquidity Pattern Investors Ignore

Most early-stage investors underwrite toward M&A or IPO. But the provided news includes an increasingly common third path: tender offers.

📚 Case Study
How Clay used tender offers to deliver liquidity without an exit

Crunchbase reports that sales automation unicorn Clay launched two tender offers in the past nine months to reward employees even though an IPO isn’t imminent. This is a concrete example of late-stage companies engineering liquidity events to manage retention and stakeholder pressure while staying private longer.

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Key Insight: Tender offers can be an early indicator of a company entering a “late private” phase—often when strategic buyers start exploring partnerships and eventual acquisitions. Takeaway: track tender behavior as a leading signal of category maturity and exit optionality.

10. EarlyFinder Framework: How to Find Targets Before They’re Obvious

Our advantage at EarlyFinder is pattern recognition across a large corpus—we track 31,000+ startups with growth signals investors don’t typically systematize. While the provided news set doesn’t include traffic/revenue/hiring metrics for these specific companies, it does provide enough to build an actionable acquisition-sourcing framework based on buyer behavior.

  • ✓ Step 1 — Identify the buyer’s “must-have” workflow: IT visibility (Freshworks/Device42), security operations automation (Arctic Wolf/Revelstoke), creative production throughput (Autodesk/Wonder Dynamics).
  • ✓ Step 2 — Back the enabling layer one abstraction earlier: integrations, data normalization, automation playbooks, compliance logging—components that make the acquirer’s platform stickier.
  • ✓ Step 3 — Prefer categories with frequent tuck-ins: workflow SaaS, security ops, creator tools, utilities. These are easier to acquire and integrate than consumer networks.
  • ✓ Step 4 — Use “liquidity engineering” as maturity signal: tender offers (Clay) often show that the company is optimizing stakeholder outcomes in lieu of IPO timing.
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Key Insight: You don’t need the exit to be loud—you need the buyer intent to be repetitive. The provided deal set shows repeatable intent around ops visibility and automation. Takeaway: build a pipeline around “operational primitives” that incumbents keep buying.

11. Watchlist Filters You Can Use This Week

Turn this roundup into sourcing actions. Based on the deal rationales in the provided news, here are concrete filters we’d apply when building an early-stage watchlist:

  • ✓ IT Ops adjacency filter: startups selling asset discovery, CMDB enrichment, infrastructure mapping, or change-risk visibility that can plug into helpdesk/ITSM suites (Device42 logic).
  • ✓ Security automation filter: products that reduce mean-time-to-respond through orchestration or playbooks (Revelstoke logic).
  • ✓ Creator throughput filter: tools that compress production steps inside existing creative workflows (Wonder Dynamics logic).
  • ✓ Utility scale filter: high-usage utility products where monetization improvements or bundling can drive acquisition rationale (WeTransfer logic).
  • ✓ Roll-up enablement filter: vertical SaaS that becomes the operating layer for fragmented services consolidators (Left Lane logic).

If you want this operationalized—with EarlyFinder-style tracking and alerts—route your team to our plans page: /pricing.

12. Closing: Where to Place Your 2026 Bets

The February 2026 tape (from the provided news) is narrow but high-signal: big institutions are buying infrastructure at scale (Inkia), while strategics are acquiring capabilities that tighten control over workflows (Device42, Wonder Dynamics, Revelstoke, WeTransfer). Meanwhile, private liquidity mechanisms (Clay tender offers) are expanding the definition of “exit.”

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Key Insight: The actionable edge isn’t predicting the next marquee acquisition—it’s systematically investing in the kinds of primitives buyers repeatedly acquire. Takeaway: build relationships with founders in IT ops, security automation, and creator workflow tooling before they become obvious “tuck-in” candidates.

Next step: If you’re building a pipeline for venture-backed exits February 2026 themes, start with the buyer maps above—and then use EarlyFinder to monitor emerging targets before competitive rounds. Learn more at our homepage or see plans at /pricing.