Selling a startup in AI without losing control of the process
For venture-backed and larger AI startups, a sale is a confidential process with a board, investors and a team to protect. Acquisitions gives you verified metrics, staged disclosure behind NDAs and a direct line to acquiring founders, funds and corp dev teams, without handing the process to a broker.
Know your range before the first conversation
Enter your category and monthly recurring revenue to get an indicative range based on public market multiples, adjusted for growth, churn, gross margin after model costs and size. Use it as a starting point for board discussions and buyer conversations. It is an indicative estimate, not an appraisal and not investment advice.
Built for AI startups with real traction
This route fits companies that have moved beyond a side project and need a structured, private sale.
- AI SaaS and agent companies with a team, a product in production and recurring revenue.
- Venture-backed startups exploring a sale alongside or instead of the next round.
- Founders seeking an acqui-hire, an asset sale or a full company sale.
- Teams whose product depends on a model provider and who want buyers to understand margin after inference cost.
Who buys AI startups here
Buyers on Acquisitions choose their plan by how they acquire. Larger startups usually draw interest from three groups.
- Corp dev teams at software companies buying AI capability or a team instead of building it.
- Funds and holding companies working on the Fund plan, with seats, roles, audit log and a shared pipeline.
- Acquiring founders on the Acquirer plan, with access to all listing sizes, unlimited NDA requests and an LOI builder.
Every NDA request shows you the buyer's plan and stated thesis, so you can decline requests that do not fit before any detail leaves your hands.
Confidential sale of an AI startup
A leak during a sale can unsettle customers, staff and investors. The listing is built around staged disclosure, and you decide every stage.
- Public stage. Category, verified metric ranges, model approach and a short description, with no name, domain or logo.
- After NDA. Exact metrics, company name, product walkthrough and the details you choose to unlock.
- Diligence stage. Contracts, cap table summary, customer concentration, code and infrastructure details, shared in messages only with buyers you invite after an LOI or at your discretion.
You approve each NDA request individually. You can revoke access to further stages at any time, and the access history stays visible to you.
Verified metrics instead of slide decks
Larger buyers spend weeks reconciling a deck with reality. Read-only connections to your payment processor and analytics put revenue, subscriptions, churn, refunds and traffic on the listing with a source badge next to each metric. We never move money, change settings or write to your accounts. Buyers start diligence from numbers they already trust, which shortens the path from first call to LOI. Learn what we read on the Revenue verification page.
The process of selling a startup on Acquisitions
The deal route is the same for every listing, with more depth at each step for a larger company.
- Prepare. Align with your board and investors on the goal, the timeline and the information you are willing to share.
- Verify. Connect your payment processor and analytics with read-only access.
- List. Write the anonymous listing and set what is unlocked after NDA.
- Screen. Review NDA requests, buyer plans and theses, and approve the ones that fit.
- Negotiate. Exchange messages and offers, receive LOIs in one inbox and compare terms side by side.
- Close. Sign the purchase agreement with your own counsel and close through an independent licensed escrow provider.
- Hand over. Transfer accounts, code, domains and knowledge with the handover checklist.
What acquirers check in an AI startup
AI companies raise questions that generic software sales do not. Answering them early keeps the process moving.
- Model dependency. Which model providers the product relies on and how hard a switch would be.
- Inference cost share. How much of revenue goes to model and hosting costs, and how that changes with scale.
- Data rights. Whether training data, fine-tuned weights and customer data can legally transfer.
- Team. Who holds the knowledge of prompts, pipelines and evaluation, and who stays after closing.
- Retention. Net revenue retention and churn by cohort, verified at the source.
Buyers work through the SaaS due diligence checklist, and it helps to read it from their side before you list.
Seller plans for larger AI startups
Most venture-backed startups choose Featured or Portfolio. Featured costs 149 USD per month, or 74 USD per month billed annually, and adds featured placement in search and deal alerts, buyer interest analytics, an LOI inbox and a handover checklist, with a 1.5% success fee on deals closed through the escrow route. Portfolio costs 399 USD per month, or 199 USD per month billed annually, with up to 5 active listings, team seats, priority verification and a portfolio page, and no success fee. Full details on Pricing for buyers and sellers.
FAQ
Yes, when disclosure is staged. The public listing carries no name, domain or logo. Details unlock only for buyers whose NDA you approve, and diligence material goes only to buyers you invite.
Yes, for a company sale you should work with your own legal and tax advisors. Acquisitions provides the listing, verification and deal workflow. It is not a broker-dealer and does not give legal, tax or investment advice.
Yes. The Portfolio plan includes team seats, so co-founders, a board member or an advisor can review NDA requests, messages and LOIs with you.
You set the asking price or ask for offers. The indicative valuation gives you a range from public market multiples. The final price comes from negotiation with buyers.
Acquisitions never holds funds. Deals on the escrow route close through an independent licensed escrow provider, which releases the money after the agreed conditions are met.
Yes. Describe the structure you are open to in the listing, for example an asset sale, a full company sale or an acqui-hire, and buyers will make offers on that basis.
Start a private, verified sale
Get an indicative range, then build an anonymous listing that unlocks only for buyers you approve.