Who Is Buying AI Startups? Nvidia, Databricks, Canva and the Rest
Every company that has bought an AI product in FalcoScan's AI Graveyard, ranked by purchases, with each deal, its year and what happened to the product since.
16 October 2026 · 9 min read · Data updated 18 October 2026
Who buys the most AI startups?
Based on FalcoScan data updated 18 October 2026, 88 companies have bought 107 AI products recorded in the AI Graveyard, and 14 of them have bought two or more. NVIDIA and Canva have bought the most, four each. Finance is the market buyers have shopped in most, with nine deals. 2025 was the busiest year, with 20. Of the 107 products bought, sources confirm 33 still run, 12 were shut down or discontinued after the deal, and for 62 no source has yet said. Every deal is in the table below, with its year and a source on the buyer's or product's page.
Which companies have bought AI startups, and what did they buy?
Every buyer in the AI Graveyard, most purchases first, with every deal and its year. A buyer with two or more purchases opens its own page; a product opens its FalcoScan record, which carries the source. A merger of equals is not a purchase and is not listed here.
| Buyer | Purchases | What it bought | Since the deals |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | 4 | OctoAI (2024), Run:ai (2024), Gretel (2025), Lepton AI (2025) | 1 still runs, 1 shut down or discontinued and 2 not established |
| Canva | 4 | Remove.bg (2021), Smartmockups (2021), Unscreen (2021), Affinity (2024) | 2 shut down or discontinued and 2 not established |
| 3 | Mutable.ai, Alter (2022), Wiz (2026) | 1 still runs and 2 not established | |
| Adobe | 2 | Frame.io (2021), Semrush (2026) | 1 still runs and 1 not established |
| Palo Alto Networks | 2 | Protect AI (2025), CyberArk (2026) | 2 not established |
| Databricks | 2 | Redash (2020), Tecton (2025) | 2 not established |
| Figma | 2 | Magician (2023), Modyfi (2025) | 1 shut down or discontinued and 1 not established |
| Meta | 2 | Rewind, PlayHT (2025) | 1 shut down or discontinued and 1 not established |
| Stripe | 2 | TaxJar (2021), Lemon Squeezy (2024) | 2 not established |
| Workday | 2 | Adaptive Insights (2018), Evisort (2024) | 1 still runs and 1 not established |
| Microsoft | 2 | Clipchamp (2021), Nuance (2022) | 1 still runs and 1 not established |
| Uber | 2 | Careem (2020), Cornershop (2021) | 2 not established |
| Twilio | 2 | SendGrid (2019), Segment (2020) | 2 not established |
| Cursor | 2 | Continue, Koala | 2 shut down or discontinued |
| Backstory | 1 | Pod (2026) | Still runs |
| Capital One | 1 | Brex (2026) | Still runs |
| Coupa | 1 | Tonkean (2026) | Still runs |
| Coursera | 1 | Udemy (2026) | Not established |
| JWX | 1 | Augie (2026) | Still runs |
| Legora | 1 | Wexler (2026) | Not established |
| The Guild | 1 | Grafbase (2026) | Not established |
| Agorapulse | 1 | Mention (2025) | Still runs |
| Appier | 1 | AdCreative.ai (2025) | Still runs |
| Bending Spoons | 1 | Vimeo (2025) | Still runs |
| Capacity | 1 | Verbio (2025) | Not established |
| ClickUp | 1 | Qatalog (2025) | Not established |
| Fivetran | 1 | Census (2025) | Not established |
| Fullcast | 1 | Copy.ai (2025) | Still runs |
| HiBob | 1 | Mosaic (2025) | Not established |
| LevelBlue | 1 | Cybereason (2025) | Still runs |
| Panorama Education | 1 | Class Companion (2025) | Not established |
| Positive | 1 | Surfer (2025) | Still runs |
| Resolve | 1 | Espressive (2025) | Not established |
| SEOptimer | 1 | GrowthBar (2025) | Not established |
| Together AI | 1 | Refuel.ai (2025) | Still runs |
| Buxton | 1 | Elevar (2024) | Not established |
| Dropbox | 1 | Reclaim.ai (2024) | Still runs |
| Employer.com | 1 | Bench (2024) | Still runs |
| Freepik | 1 | Magnific (2024) | Still runs |
| Grammarly | 1 | Coda (2024) | Still runs |
| Hootsuite | 1 | Talkwalker (2024) | Not established |
| Jasper | 1 | Clipdrop (2024) | Still runs |
| Kakao | 1 | Kakao Brain (2024) | Not established |
| Lumivero | 1 | ATLAS.ti (2024) | Still runs |
| Panopto | 1 | Elai (2024) | Still runs |
| Salesloft | 1 | Drift (2024) | Not established |
| Sema4.ai | 1 | Robocorp (2024) | Not established |
| Typeface | 1 | Narrato (2024) | Not established |
| Webflow | 1 | Intellimize (2024) | Not established |
| Atlassian | 1 | Loom (2023) | Still runs |
| BioNTech | 1 | InstaDeep (2023) | Not established |
| Cisco | 1 | Armorblox (2023) | Not established |
| CrowdStrike | 1 | Bionic (2023) | Not established |
| Francisco Partners and TPG | 1 | New Relic (2023) | Not established |
| HubSpot | 1 | Clearbit (2023) | Not established |
| ADT | 1 | IOTAS (2022) | Not established |
| Ascential (parent of Perpetua) | 1 | Sellics (2022) | Not established |
| BILL | 1 | Finmark (2022) | Not established |
| Chargebee | 1 | Numberz (2022) | Still runs |
| Conductor | 1 | ContentKing (2022) | Not established |
| Ericsson | 1 | Vonage (2022) | Still runs |
| Mastercard | 1 | Dynamic Yield (2022) | Not established |
| Paddle | 1 | ProfitWell (2022) | Not established |
| PagerDuty | 1 | Catalytic (2022) | Not established |
| Skillsoft | 1 | Codecademy (2022) | Not established |
| Twitch | 1 | Spirit AI (2022) | Not established |
| Unity | 1 | Ziva Dynamics (2022) | Discontinued after the deal |
| Walker & Dunlop | 1 | GeoPhy (2022) | Not established |
| Alpine Software Group | 1 | Sendible (2021) | Still runs |
| Altus Group | 1 | Reonomy (2021) | Still runs |
| Contentsquare | 1 | Hotjar (2021) | Still runs |
| Getty Images | 1 | Unsplash (2021) | Not established |
| Intelerad | 1 | Ambra Health (2021) | Not established |
| Intuit | 1 | Mailchimp (2021) | Still runs |
| JLL | 1 | Skyline AI (2021) | Discontinued after the deal |
| Litera | 1 | Kira Systems (2021) | Not established |
| Mitratech | 1 | ContractRoom (2021) | Still runs |
| Nuance | 1 | Saykara (2021) | Not established |
| Renaissance Learning | 1 | Nearpod (2021) | Not established |
| Astute | 1 | Socialbakers (2020) | Not established |
| DataRobot | 1 | Paxata (2019) | Not established |
| WhiteSource (now Mend) | 1 | Renovate (2019) | Not established |
| Envato | 1 | Placeit (2018) | Still runs |
| 1 | Glint (2018) | Still runs | |
| Siemens | 1 | Mendix (2018) | Not established |
| Artlist | 1 | HitFilm | Bought, then closed in 2025 |
| Netflix | 1 | Ready Player Me | Bought, then closed in 2026 |
| Walmart | 1 | Botmock | Bought, then closed in 2021 |
"Since the deals" counts what a source has established about each product after the purchase. Source: FalcoScan's AI Graveyard (data updated 18 October 2026).
What have NVIDIA, Databricks and Canva bought?
NVIDIA has bought four AI products in the graveyard, the most of any buyer: OctoAI (2024), Run:ai (2024), Gretel (2025) and Lepton AI (2025). Run:ai still runs; OctoAI was shut down or discontinued after the deal; no source yet says whether Gretel and Lepton AI still run. See every NVIDIA deal.
Databricks has bought two AI products in the graveyard, 6th of 88 buyers: Redash (2020) and Tecton (2025). No source yet says whether Redash and Tecton still run. See every Databricks deal.
Canva has bought four AI products in the graveyard, 2nd of 88 buyers: Remove.bg (2021), Smartmockups (2021), Unscreen (2021) and Affinity (2024). Smartmockups and Unscreen were shut down or discontinued after the deal; no source yet says whether Remove.bg and Affinity still run. See every Canva deal.
The graveyard counts only AI products FalcoScan tracks, so none of these is a buyer's full list of acquisitions.
Which AI markets are buyers shopping in?
Purchases by the market the product was listed in, next to how many products FalcoScan has tracked in that market and the share of them that have been bought. A market name opens that market's page.
| Market | Products bought | Tracked | Share bought |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | 9 | 393 | 2.3% |
| Marketing | 9 | 295 | 3.1% |
| Video | 8 | 347 | 2.3% |
| Design | 7 | 365 | 1.9% |
| Security | 7 | 358 | 2.0% |
| Automation | 6 | 364 | 1.6% |
| Data | 6 | 401 | 1.5% |
| Coding | 5 | 511 | 1.0% |
| AI Models | 4 | 466 | 0.9% |
| Ecommerce | 4 | 301 | 1.3% |
| Learning | 4 | 267 | 1.5% |
| Real Estate | 4 | 113 | 3.5% |
| Avatars | 3 | 86 | 3.5% |
| Healthcare | 3 | 254 | 1.2% |
| Image | 3 | 430 | 0.7% |
| Legal | 3 | 132 | 2.3% |
| Research | 3 | 148 | 2.0% |
| Social | 3 | 254 | 1.2% |
| Voice | 3 | 305 | 1.0% |
| Productivity | 2 | 334 | 0.6% |
| Search & SEO | 2 | 102 | 2.0% |
| Support | 2 | 234 | 0.9% |
| Writing | 2 | 340 | 0.6% |
| 3D & AR/VR | 1 | 84 | 1.2% |
| Agents | 1 | 425 | 0.2% |
| Gaming | 1 | 91 | 1.1% |
| Human Resources | 1 | 132 | 0.8% |
| Sales | 1 | 284 | 0.4% |
Tracked counts every product FalcoScan has listed in the market, running or not. Source: FalcoScan's AI Graveyard (data updated 18 October 2026).
When did the buying happen?
Purchases by the year the deal closed, newest first. 2025 is the busiest year on record, with 20. Seven purchases have no established year and are left out of the chart.
Count of verified purchases per year. Unit: products. Source: FalcoScan's AI Graveyard (data updated 18 October 2026).
What happens to an AI product after it is bought?
Of the 107 products bought, sources confirm 33 still run, 12 were shut down or discontinued after the deal, and for 62 no source has yet said. Bought and later shut down: Botmock (2021), Continue (2026), HitFilm (2025), Koala (2025), Ready Player Me (2026), Rewind (2025), Smartmockups (2024) and Unscreen (2026). Discontinued after the deal: Magician, OctoAI, Skyline AI and Ziva Dynamics.
How does FalcoScan count a purchase?
A purchase is one product bought by one company, recorded only when a published source says so. Every entry links to a published source. Catalog listings of the same product are merged, so a company that bought one product listed three times counts one purchase. A product bought and later shut down stays with its buyer. A merger of equals is listed in the graveyard as acquired but counted as a purchase for neither side. Buyers are matched on the company name, so a parent and its subsidiary named together are one buyer. The method is set out on the AI Graveyard page and in the methodology. This page is rebuilt from the latest refresh, and the date at the top is the date of the data it used.
Where can you dig into the buyers?
Who buys AI startups is the graveyard's own buyer index, and the busiest buyers have pages of their own: NVIDIA, Canva. For this year's deals alone, read which AI companies got acquired in 2026, and for the products that found no buyer, which AI products shut down in 2026. The frozen report what died and where it went keeps a reference reading, and the Market Terminal compares every market at once.
Questions people ask
Which companies buy the most AI startups?
Of the 138 products in FalcoScan's AI Graveyard (data updated 18 October 2026), NVIDIA and Canva bought the most: 4 each (NVIDIA: OctoAI, Run:ai, Gretel and Lepton AI; Canva: Remove.bg, Smartmockups, Unscreen and Affinity). In all, 88 companies bought products in the graveyard, and 14 bought two or more.
How many AI startups have been acquired?
FalcoScan's AI Graveyard (data updated 18 October 2026) records 107 AI products bought by 88 companies, with 2025 the busiest year at 20. The graveyard counts only AI products FalcoScan tracks, so it is not a census of every AI deal.
Do acquired AI startups keep running?
Of the 107 products bought, sources confirm 33 still run, 12 were shut down or discontinued after the deal, and for 62 no source has yet said. Shut down or discontinued after a purchase: Botmock, Continue, HitFilm, Koala, Magician, OctoAI, Ready Player Me, Rewind, Skyline AI, Smartmockups, Unscreen and Ziva Dynamics.
What AI startups has NVIDIA acquired?
NVIDIA has bought four AI products in the graveyard, the most of any buyer: OctoAI (2024), Run:ai (2024), Gretel (2025) and Lepton AI (2025). Run:ai still runs; OctoAI was shut down or discontinued after the deal; no source yet says whether Gretel and Lepton AI still run. The graveyard counts only AI products FalcoScan tracks, so this is not NVIDIA's full list of acquisitions.
What AI startups has Databricks acquired?
Databricks has bought two AI products in the graveyard, 6th of 88 buyers: Redash (2020) and Tecton (2025). No source yet says whether Redash and Tecton still run. The graveyard counts only AI products FalcoScan tracks, so this is not Databricks's full list of acquisitions.
What AI startups has Canva acquired?
Canva has bought four AI products in the graveyard, 2nd of 88 buyers: Remove.bg (2021), Smartmockups (2021), Unscreen (2021) and Affinity (2024). Smartmockups and Unscreen were shut down or discontinued after the deal; no source yet says whether Remove.bg and Affinity still run. The graveyard counts only AI products FalcoScan tracks, so this is not Canva's full list of acquisitions.
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Photo: Tanita Lupa / Pexels. Colour-graded for FalcoScan.
Citing these numbers
Every figure here is read from the FalcoScan catalog, and this page refreshes daily. The numbers above are from the data updated on 18 October 2026. When you quote one, quote that date with it.
FalcoScan, “Who Is Buying AI Startups? Nvidia, Databricks, Canva and the Rest”, data updated 18 October 2026. https://falcoscan.com/articles/who-is-buying-ai-startups