Enterprise Weekly #539: Huge Week for Software M&A, AI's ROI Question, and More
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There are weeks where a few things happen. And then there are weeks where many things happen. This was one of the latter.
On Wednesday, Palo Alto Networks announced their acquisition of observability Chronosphere for $3.35B. Chronosphere is an observability company that started off in the metrics space but expanded into traces, telemetry pipelines, and logging. They’ve been growing ARR triple-digits YoY and ended September at a $160M run rate.
This is not the first time security and observability has been united. Splunk sells products in both areas, and Crowdstrike bought cloud log management company Humio in 2021. The Chronosphere acquisition, second largest in company history, marks Palo Alto’s true entrance into the observability space. And it makes sense: not only does it give their XSIAM SIEM product richer context at lower data ingestion costs, but it also provides a telemetry fabric for their AI agents.
But that wasn’t the only acquisition of the week! That same day, Adobe announced their acquisition of Semrush, a leading brand visibility platform, for $1.9B. In a world where the dominant interface to online content is shifting from search engines to generative AI platforms, Semrush’s GEO (generative engine optimization) capabilities complement their SEO capabilities perfectly. And Adobe took notice.
The incumbents aren’t sleepy at the wheel; they’re keeping a constant lookout for the strategic decisions they can make to better position themselves in the AI era. The game is the same across all cycles: startups need to get distribution before incumbents get innovation. The difference this time around? Be it by M&A or organic means, the incumbents are reaching innovation at breakneck speed, making velocity all the more important for startups.
One last story we’re tracking is the shakeout from NVIDIA’s earnings call. The company is undeniably on a tear: revenue for the last quarter clocked in at $57B, up 62% from the year-earlier, and quarterly net income was 31.9B (65% higher than the previous year). Despite another blockbuster quarter, there are two opposing forces at play: seemingly infinite demand for AI services, juxtaposed with many believing we’re in an AI bubble that’s on the precipice of popping.
While time will tell if/when the AI bubble will pop, what we do know for certain is that we’re living in truly unique times! It will be fascinating to see how it all plays out.
🗓️ Join more Work-Bench events:
🌉 Enterprise Software Trivia Night (December 1st): We’re teaming up with Greylock to host an Enterprise Software Trivia Night in San Francisco: a fun evening packed with questions about the companies, technologies, and people that have shaped the last 40 years of enterprise software. Whether you spend your free time reading books like Softwar (and listening to the Acquired Podcast) or have a budding curiosity about how various enterprise software companies were built, this event is for you. Sign up here to join us!
❄️ ‘Tis the Szn: Work-Bench’s AI Founder & Operator Soiree (December 11th): Join us as we bring together NYC’s top AI operators and founders for a fun evening at one of NYC’s coolest spots! This is an intimate gathering for current founders, future founders, and operators looking to connect, trade ideas, and have fun with great company. Sign up here.
📚 Read more news:
TechCrunch: Salesforce says some of its customers’ data was accessed after Gainsight breach
VentureBeat: Google’s upgraded Nano Banana Pro AI image model hailed as ‘absolutely bonkers’ for enterprises and users
Reuters: Microsoft, Nvidia to invest in Anthropic as Claude maker commits $30 billion to Azure
🧵 Read more threads:
Jon Lehr: Not all heroes wear Patagonia vests 🦸♂️
Mark Settle: The Proactive IT Service Desk
Danny Sigurdson: AI Opportunities for Biopharma
OpenAI: How evals drive the next chapter in AI for businesses
Gavin Baker: Some thoughts on AI
Company: Artian
Role: Software Engineer - AI/ML
Technology: Multi-Agent System for Financial Services
Funding: $8M from Work-Bench, Foxe Capital, and more
🌟 Company of the Week 🌟
Datum raises $13.6M led by Amplify Partners, CRV, Cervin Ventures, and Others
Infrastructure / Dev Tools - Seed - New York, NY
Founders: Zachary Smith, Jacob Smith
AlertD raises $3M led by True Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Pre-Seed • Walnut Creek, CA
Orion raised $3.5M led by Dynamo Ventures
Risk / Security • Seed • Denver, CO
SubImage raises $4.2M led by FundersClub, Y Combinator, Phosphor Capital, and Transpose Platform
Risk / Security • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Luminal raises $5.3M led by Felicis
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • San Francisco, CA
alphaXiv raises $7M led by Menlo Ventures and Haystack
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Pibit AI raises $7M led by Stellaris Venture Partners
Future of Work • Series A • San Francisco, CA
Poly raises $8M led by Felicis
Collaboration / Productivity • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Condukt raises $10M led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and MMC Ventures
Future of Work • Seed • London, UK
Runlayer raises $11M led by Khosla Ventures and Felicis
Risk / Security • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Albatross raises $12.5M led by MMC Ventures
Sales / Marketing • Seed • Zurich, Switzerland
Automat raises $15.5M led by Felicis
Collaboration / Productivity • Series A • San Francisco, CA
Mate raises $15.5M led by Team8 and Insight Partners
Risk / Security • Seed • Tel Aviv, Israel
OpenHands raises $18.8M led by Madrona
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A • Boston, MA
Coverbase raises $20M led by Canapi Ventures
Risk / Security • Seed & Series A • San Francisco, CA
Peec AI raises $21M led by Singular
Sales / Marketing • Series A • Berlin, Germany
Bedrock Data raises $25M led by Greylock
Risk / Security • Series A • Menlo Park, CA
Span raises $25M led by Alt Capital, Craft Ventures, BoxGroup, and Others
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed & Series A • San Francisco, CA
GetVocal raises $26M led by Creandum
Sales / Marketing • Series A • Paris, France
Method Security raises $26M led by a16z and General Catalyst
Risk / Security • Seed & Series A • New York, NY
Stuut raises $29.5M by Andreessen Horowitz
Future of Work • Series A • New York, NY
Apono raises $34M led by U.S. Venture Partners
Risk / Security • Series B • New York, NY
Maxima raises $41M led by Redpoint Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and Audacious Ventures
Future of Work • Seed & Series A • San Mateo, CA
Guardio raises $80M led by ION Crossover Partners
Risk / Security • Series B • Tel Aviv, Israel
Celero Communications raises $140M led by Sutter Hill Ventures and Capital G
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A & Series B • Irvine, CA
Ramp raises $300M led by Lightspeed
Future of Work • Venture • New York, NY
Lambda raises $1.5B led by TWG Global
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series E • San Francisco, CA
Adobe acquires Semrush for $1.9B
Sales / Marketing • Acquisition • Boston, MA
Palo Alto Networks acquires Chronosphere for $3.4B
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Acquisition • New York, NY
Amplix acquires 24By7Security for an Undisclosed Amount
Risk / Security • Acquisition • Coral Springs, FL
Cloudflare acquires Replicate for an Undisclosed Amount
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Acquisition • San Francisco, CA
SAFE acquires Balbix for an Undisclosed Amount
Risk / Security • Acquisition • San Jose, CA
Workday acquires Pipedream for an Undisclosed Amount
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Acquisition • San Francisco, CA