M&A advisory for developer tools companies
Developer tools M&A has been driven by strategic consolidation at the major cloud and developer platforms - the hyperscalers, GitHub-adjacent groups, the observability majors - and an active PE community building developer software portfolios. The AI coding wave has reshaped the buyer set further, with AI-focused acquirers now in the mix.
Active strategic buyers are the hyperscalers, GitHub and its adjacent groups, the observability majors like Datadog and the API and infrastructure platforms, alongside PE platforms building developer software portfolios. Flow has direct access to the developer tools strategic acquirers and PE platforms that transact in this category.
Flow team has relevant sector experience and has worked with developer tools companies across code hosting and CI/CD, observability and APM, testing and QA tooling, API platforms and infrastructure, and AI-assisted development tools.
"Developer tools" KPIs M&A buyers look at
Key metrics strategics and PE buyers look at when analayzing developer tools M&A targets
ARR
Paid seats
Free users / signups
Free-to-paid conversion
Net retention
Consumption revenue
Free-tier infra cost
Gross margin
CAC payback
Active orgs
Developer tools valuations in May 2026
Public developer tools comps trade at 3.4x EV/Revenue. Median revenue multiple across developer tools M&A deals was 3.5x in the last 12 months.
3.4x
Median EV/Revenue as of May 2026 for public developer tools companies
22x
Datadog is the highest valued public developer tools company based on EV/Revenue (excluding outliers)
3.5x
Median EV/Revenue across developer tools M&A deals in the last 12 months
25x
Median EV/Revenue across developer tools VC rounds in the last 12 months
Key recent developer tools M&A deals
$1.2B acquisition of FlowiseAI by Workday was the largest developer tools M&A transaction completed in the last year.
See all developer tools M&A deals| Logo | HQ | Description | Buyer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aug-25 | FlowiseAI |  | FlowiseAI is an open-source low-code platform for developing LLM-powered AI agents and multi-step workflows with drag-and-drop interfaces. It supports single-agent chatbots with tool integration, RAG pipelines from vector stores like Pinecone, and orchestration across agents using LangChain components. FlowiseAI offers API endpoints, SDKs, embedded widgets, and production deployments on cloud or self-hosted environments, with observability via Prometheus and OpenTelemetry. | Workday | $1.2B | - | |
Sep-25 | DX | | DX is a developer intelligence platform headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. The tool measures engineering productivity through metrics on code deployment frequency, pull request cycle time, and AI code generation adoption. It integrates with GitHub, GitLab, and Jira to provide dashboards for teams at companies like Atlassian and Snowflake, aiding velocity improvements and AI transformation strategies. | Atlassian | $1.0B | - | |
Feb-26 | Tavily | | Tavily is a real-time search API tailored for large language models and retrieval-augmented generation applications. The platform enables AI agents to query live web data with features like result ranking, extraction, and hallucination reduction. Tavily serves financial institutions for fraud detection, logistics firms for supply chain optimization, and universities for research, processing millions of queries monthly from its cloud infrastructure. | Nebius AI | $400M | - | |
May-26 | Stainless | | Stainless is a San Francisco-headquartered platform generating type-safe SDKs for APIs in languages like TypeScript, Python, and Java. The tool produces idiomatic client libraries handling authentication, pagination, and error responses from OpenAPI specifications. Developers integrate it via CLI for rapid deployment to npm and PyPI. Launched in 2023, Stainless supports enterprises building public APIs with automatic updates from spec changes. | Anthropic | $300M | - | |
Nov-25 | Latitude.sh |  | Latitude.sh is a bare-metal cloud provider enabling developers to deploy physical servers in data centers across Europe, Asia, and North America via API and dashboard. Amsterdam-headquartered Latitude.sh supports instant provisioning of customizable servers for high-performance computing needs. The platform caters to workloads requiring low-latency and dedicated hardware without virtualization overhead. | Megaport | $300M | 8.4x | |
Jul-25 | Windsurf | | Windsurf is a provider of an AI-powered coding assistant integrated into development environments for Mac, Windows, and Linux users. The platform automates code generation, debugging, and refactoring tasks, supporting languages like Python, JavaScript, and Java. Individual developers access a free tier, while enterprise plans add team collaboration, version control integration with GitHub, and custom model training for proprietary codebases. | Cognition | $250M | 3.0x | |
Oct-25 | IAR Systems |  | - | Qt Group | $220M | - | |
Jun-25 | Memfault | | Memfault is a San Francisco-headquartered platform providing firmware management, diagnostics, and remote updates for IoT and consumer electronics devices. Founded in 2016, it serves clients like Bosch, GoPro, and Sonos with an SDK compatible across Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and USB protocols. The service handles over-the-air deployments and real-time monitoring, enabling hardware teams to prioritize product differentiation amid billions of connected devices worldwide. | Nordic Semiconductor | $120M | - | |
May-26 | Jit |  | Jit is a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity platform helping development organizations implement just-in-time security practices. The tool automates vulnerability scanning, compliance checks, and policy enforcement within CI/CD pipelines for DevOps teams. | Torq | $70M | - | |
Jan-26 | Particle | | Particle is a San Francisco-headquartered and Shenzhen-based IoT platform founded in 2012. It supplies hardware modules, cellular connectivity, device management software, and cloud services for product development. Over 150,000 developers across 170 countries and half of Fortune 500 firms deploy Particle-powered devices. Clients include NASA, SpaceX, Jacuzzi, and Keurig, with accolades from Fast Company in 2015 and IDC MarketScape in 2018. | Digi International | $50M | - | |
Jun-25 | Hosterion |  | Hosterion is a Bucharest-based web hosting firm. The company offers shared Linux and Windows plans, VPS instances, and domain registrations for .ro and international TLDs. Its data centers in Romania provide SSD storage, daily backups, and one-click CMS installs for websites serving Eastern European clients. | cyber_Folks | $7.0M | 3.5x | |
May-26 | YepCode |  | YepCode is a developer platform for building and scaling integrations, automations, and AI workflows. The firm supplies serverless execution inside a secure sandbox along with direct links to APIs, databases, and cloud services. YepCode removes routine DevOps tasks so teams can move projects into production while meeting enterprise security and compliance standards. | Factorial | - | - | |
May-26 | zanode.co.za |  | zanode.co.za is a South African application hosting platform. The service provides GitHub-based deployments, managed PostgreSQL, automatic SSL, and usage-based pricing for local developers and agencies. | HOSTAFRICA | - | - | |
May-26 | lunar.dev | | lunar.dev is a San Francisco-headquartered platform for third-party API management at enterprise scale. The tool monitors usage, throttles requests, enforces caching, and generates cost reports across integrations like Stripe, Twilio, and Google Maps without custom middleware deployments. | Boomi | - | - | |
May-26 | One AI | | One AI is a developer-focused language AI platform offering APIs for text analysis, summarization, and generation. Developers embed its tools into applications for sentiment detection, content classification, and conversational AI. Tel Aviv-headquartered since 2020, One AI processes billions of tokens monthly for SaaS and enterprise clients worldwide. | Monday.com | - | - |
Most active buyers of developer tools companies
Anthropic, OpenAI and Postman are the most active acquirers of developer tools companies in the last three years.
See all developer tools acquirers| Logo | HQ | Description | Key acquisitions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anthropic | | Anthropic is an AI safety company developing large language models and researching methods to make artificial intelligence more reliable and steerable. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers including Dario and Daniela Amodei. The company's flagship product is Claude, a family of AI assistants deployed across consumer applications and enterprise APIs. Research priorities center on constitutional AI, mechanistic interpretability, and alignment techniques. Major investors include Google, Spark Capital, and Salesforce Ventures. | StainlessRunhouseBun | 3 | |
OpenAI | | OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research and deployment company that develops large language models, including the GPT series, and consumer-facing products such as ChatGPT. Founded in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab, the organization transitioned to a capped-profit structure in 2019 to attract the capital needed for large-scale AI development. The company offers API access to its models for enterprise and developer use, alongside image generation through DALL-E and code-assistance tools. Headquartered in San Francisco, OpenAI has become one of the most prominent players in the generative AI space, backed by a multibillion-dollar investments from Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, SoftBank and many more. | AstralPromptfooOpenClaw+2 | 3 | |
Postman | | Postman is a San Francisco-headquartered API platform used by developers worldwide to design, test, document, and monitor APIs. It supports REST, GraphQL, and SOAP protocols with automated testing collections and mock servers. The enterprise edition includes team collaboration, API governance, and Newman CLI for CI/CD pipelines. Postman integrates with GitHub, Slack, and AWS. Founded in 2014, it powers over 500,000 organizations from startups to Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft and NASA. | FernLIBLABAkita Software | 3 | |
Snyk | | Snyk is a developer security platform that scans code, containers, and infrastructure for vulnerabilities. Used by enterprises including Google, Salesforce, and MongoDB, it integrates into CI/CD pipelines and IDEs. Headquartered in London with Boston offices, Snyk supports open-source fixes and was named to the Forbes Cloud 100 in 2021. | ProbelyHeliosReviewpad+1 | 3 | |
BrowserStack |  | BrowserStack is a cloud-based platform for cross-browser and mobile testing on real devices and browsers. Mumbai-headquartered BrowserStack operates data centers in fifteen locations worldwide, supporting Selenium, Appium, and Cypress frameworks. The service integrates with CI/CD pipelines from Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and CircleCI. It caters to development teams at Microsoft, Twitter, and Barclays by providing instant access to over three thousand browser-device combinations. Founded in 2011, BrowserStack accelerates release cycles through visual regression testing and live debugging features. | RequestlyBird Eats BugGreyAtom | 3 | |
Cursor | | Cursor is an AI-powered code editor developed by Anysphere, a San Francisco-based startup founded in 2022. Built on Visual Studio Code's foundation, the application integrates advanced AI capabilities directly into the coding workflow, offering intelligent code completion, natural language code editing, and conversational programming assistance. The tool enables developers to write, refactor, and debug code through AI-assisted features that understand project context and codebase structure. Anysphere has attracted significant venture capital funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI, and Thrive Capital, positioning Cursor among the fastest-growing AI developer tools in the market. The company's product competes in the emerging category of AI-native integrated development environments designed to accelerate software engineering productivity. | GraphiteKoalaSupermaven | 2 | |
Apryse |  | Apryse is a Canada-headquartered suite of document processing SDKs for PDF editing, viewing, and conversion across mobile, web, and desktop. Formerly PDFTron, the platform supports annotations, redaction, and forms in JavaScript, .NET, and iOS environments. Apryse serves legal, finance, and publishing sectors with high-volume processing capabilities. | Scanbot SDKTallComponents BVAccusoft | 2 | |
Workday | | Workday is a software company that offers human capital management, financial management, and business planning solutions for enterprises. Known for being a cloud-only software provider, Workday was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. | PipedreamFlowiseAISana+1 | 2 | |
CoreWeave | | CoreWeave Inc is a modern cloud infrastructure technology company that offers the CoreWeave Cloud Platform which consists of proprietary software and cloud services that deliver the automation and efficiency needed to manage complex AI infrastructure at scale. Its platform supports the development and use of ground-breaking models and the delivery of the next generation of AI applications that are changing the way of living and working across the globe. | MarimoOpenPipeMonolith AI | 2 | |
Boomi | | Boomi is a cloud integration platform pioneer offering AtomSphere, an iPaaS solution that connects SaaS, PaaS, on-premises, and cloud environments without hardware. Headquartered in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, Boomi supports over 20,000 customers worldwide, including salesforce.com, NetSuite, Intuit, and Zuora. The self-service platform enables rapid API management, data synchronization, and hybrid integrations across enterprises. | lunar.devCloud Software Group (API unit)Thru+1 | 2 |
Founders and investors we've worked with
We've supported winning builders across developer tools and beyond.
MAILINGWORK
We acted as exclusive sell-side advisor to MAILINGWORK, a Chemnitz-based email marketing software platform, on its sale to French digital marketing leader Positive Group.
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TestSolutions
We acted as exclusive financial advisor to Swiss PE firm Patrimonium on its majority stake acquisition of TestSolutions, a Frankfurt-based software testing and IT services provider.
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Resillion
We provided buy-side advice to a dominant TIC industry player on the carve-out and acquisition of Resillion (fka Eurofins Digital Testing), a Hasselt-based digital testing, cybersecurity and forensics provider.
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Digital Asset Management Software Provider
We provided buy-side advice to Byron Capital Partners on its acquisition of a leading European digital asset management (DAM) software platform.
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Boryszew
We provided buy-side advice to Boryszew, a Warsaw-listed diversified industrial group across automotive, metals and chemicals, on industrial software market mapping and target screening for its buy-and-build strategy.
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