VC funding has fluctuated significantly in recent years, both in investment size and deal volume. As a result, companies are increasingly being guided toward M&A opportunities to support growth and liquidity. In 2025, the median VC investment reached $4.2 million, well below the median disclosed M&A deal value. 

Let’s start by looking at the volume of M&A deals in the Internet of Things sector which saw 320 deals announced in 2025, up 34% annually and the second-best annual result in the last 10 years. Private Equity’s share of the market rose, reaching 29% of all deals in 2025, up from 24% in 2024. 

Disclosed IoT deal value reached $43.9 billion in 2025, way above 2024 levels of $15.9 billion. Following a similar trend as transaction volume, that represented the second-best annual performance in the last 10 years. Keeping with historical trends, only 21% of deals disclosed their financial terms as buyers preferred to keep their M&A strategies private. 

In terms of top acquirers, Swedish access solutions leader ASSA ABLOY and PE firm TPG led the pack with 4 deals each, followed by autonomous drones provider Ondas Holdings which acquired 3 companies.