While the IPO market remains chilly, a different kind of exit is heating up: the Micro-Acquisition.
We are seeing a spike in sub-$5M exits for niche AI tools. This is a healthy sign for the ecosystem.
Who is buying?
- PE Firms: Private Equity firms are "rolling up" vertical SaaS. They buy 10 small tools in the legal tech space and combine them into one platform.
- Non-Tech Incumbents: Traditional businesses (e.g., a logistics company) acquiring AI tools to modernize their own operations.
- Holding Companies: A new wave of HoldCos (like Tiny) that simply buy profitable software businesses to hold forever.
Big Tech is watching, but regulatory scrutiny stops them from buying everything. This leaves a massive gap for smaller players to consolidate the market.
"You don't need a $1B exit to win. A $5M exit in 2 years is life-changing for a solo founder."
This changes the incentives. You don't need to build a platform; you just need to build a really good feature that solves a specific problem.