| Hi, Agen. IPOs generate a lot of buzz. Acquisitions by private equity firms, not so much. After all, most founders don’t start out with the vision of selling their startup to a leveraged institutional buyer looking to profitably offload it again in a few years. But for software companies in particular, acquisitions by PE firms are statistically one of the more common kinds of exits. With that in mind, we look at what the most-active PE buyers have been up to in recent years, with an eye toward when they might resume spending. Plus, what separated seed-funded startups that were able to raise a Series A with their peers that folded in 2023? Over the past five years, the most-active PE buyers have collectively spent more than $36 billion to buy dozens of private companies in the space, Crunchbase data shows. But M&A deals for private companies peaked in 2020 and 2021, and slowed considerably in recent quarters, with a similar trend playing out for PE purchases of both public and private software companies. Related Crunchbase Pro list: Software Startup Acquisitions By The Most-Active Private Equity Buyers Healy Jones of startup advisory firm Kruze Consulting analyzed data from about 100 seed-funded startups that tried to raise a Series A in 2023 and compared those that were successful with those that failed. Crunchbase data shows funded startups dedicated to improving the performance and reducing the carbon footprint of ships and watercraft have collectively raised more than $1.1 billion to date. They’re using that to further research and commercialization in areas from electric motors to wind-powered cargo shipping. Related Crunchbase Pro list: Funded Nautically-Focused Companies Despite small glimmers of hope, the venture funding turnaround has not yet materialized, putting startup founders in a challenging position as they decide how to optimize resources. But you don’t have to go on a feverish cost-cutting streak to extend your runway, writes investor Marc Schröder of MGV. Here are options beyond survival mode. | 
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