2023 was the worst year in a decade for acquisitions of VC-backed companies. And while buyers were broadly picky, they were much more likely to snap up younger startups—a byproduct of a market that now entices founders to sell early.

Corporate acquirers scooped up 151 seed-stage startups last year in the US, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. That count was the lowest since 2017, but M&A of more mature companies fared much worse: Acquisitions of Series A and later-stage companies have all fallen to a 10-year low. READ MORE