Before TechCrunch started its Disrupt Conference in 2010, the tech blog organized TechCrunch50 (TechCrunch40 in 2007) for three years – its original competition for startups to vie for a $50,000 prize in front of venture capitalists and tech press. TechCrunch50 has since been replaced, but we wanted to revisit venture capital financing and exits to the 2007 and 2008 vintages of the competition after Hunter Walk and others wondered earlier this summer what the fate of TechCrunch50 startup alumni has been.
@gregbettinelli @joshelman wonder what $50k invested in each of the 50 cos at point of Disrupt would be valued currently
— Hunter Walk (@hunterwalk) June 5, 2013
Here’s the data…
Six years after the original TechCrunch40 event, we found 22 exits of startups that participated in the competition in either 2007 or 2008. What’s more, alumni of the 2007 and 2008 competitions have taken in over $1.3B in aggregate funding ($858M to 2008 TechCrunch50 alumni and $470M to 2007 TechCrunch40). Of course, the funding tallies are driven by a handful of firms who’ve raised boatloads of money. The top 10 companies from the 2007 and 2008 competitions by venture capital raised are below:
All of the 22 exits that have come out of the 2007 and 2008 competition thus far happened via M&A, with six acquisitions (of the 10 with disclosed valuations) crossing the $100M mark and one of those six, Microsoft’s acquisition of Yammer, topping $1B. Interestingly, Microsoft has acquired three companies that participated in the conference including Powerset, Videosurf and Yammer. And while no public offerings have occurred yet, several companies from the two vintages such as Dropbox and ZocDoc made it onto our Tech IPO Pipeline late last year, a list of companies which might be on the road towards an eventual IPO, so it’s not inconceivable that some TC conference alum may IPO.
The 22 venture exits, by year, as well as their acquirers are below:
