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Contents
5 6 20 33 45

Summary Of FAMGA Highlights Acquisition Trends Investment Trends Methodology

Findings & Market Drivers

4
Summary Of Findings
Overview of FAMGA’s financing & acquisition activity, 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)
Big tech acquisitions reached a 5-year low amid the FAMGA outperformed the market by more than 30
pandemic… percentage points in 2020. In turn, the companies poured
money into these areas:
• FAMGA’s acquisition activity dropped steeply in the
second half of 2020 and in the first quarter of 2021. • Acquiring for emerging technologies: Big tech has
looked to bolster its artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual
…as FAMGA upped its investments to record levels,
reality (VR) capabilities, among other areas.
backing equity deals worth a combined $12.4B in 2020.
• Investing for the work-from-home era: In particular,
• Google leads FAMGA in unique investments (16)
Google and Microsoft backed a number of cloud,
throughout the pandemic, followed by Amazon (14).
cybersecurity, and productivity software providers.
• GV (Google Ventures) is the most active FAMGA
• Racing for consumers in India: Facebook, Amazon,
venture arm by a wide margin, focusing on health-
Microsoft, and Google all made investments to
related investments.
companies based in the country.
• After an aggressive H2’20, FAMGA pulled back on
• Big bets on mobility: Amazon, Microsoft, and Google
investments in Q1’21. Amazon led the pack in the
backed auto tech companies like Cruise, Waymo, Zoox,
quarter, with 4 investments (and 3 acquisitions).
and Rivian.

Note: Includes investments & acquisitions made by Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google (and its parent Alphabet), and Amazon (FAMGA) 5
standalone corporate entities only from January 1, 2020 – March 31, 2021, unless otherwise noted.
FAMGA Highlights
& Market Drivers

6
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

Big tech acquisitions have trended down…

Annual number of acquisitions made by FAMGA, 2016 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

50
47
43
39
35

16

4
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 YTD*
*2021 full-year data is based on a run rate as of 3/31/21. 7
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

…while investments have trended up

Annual number of investments made by FAMGA, 2016 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

38
35 36

24
21

13
9

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 YTD*

Note: Includes follow-on investments. Financings may be double-counted if they include more than one backer among FAMGA. CVC or venture 8
arms are not included. *2021 full-year data is based on a run rate as of 3/31/21.
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

Big tech funding hit record high in 2020

Unique equity deals & dollars with FAMGA participation ($M), 2016 – 2020
Funding amount ($M) Deal count

$16,000 40
35 35

$12,000 30
$12,362
24
21
$8,000 20
13 $7,280
$4,000 10
$3,844
$2,609 $2,915
$0 0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Note: Includes follow-on investments. CVC or venture arms are not included. 9
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

Google leads in acquisitions over the past 5 years…

Annual number of acquisitions made by FAMGA, 2016 – 2020
Apple
20
Microsoft
Google
15
Facebook
Amazon
10

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

10
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

…But its acquisition pace has slowed down significantly

Annual number of acquisitions made by FAMGA, 2016 – 2020

20

15

10 Google’s annual
acquisition
activity has
5 dropped over
60% since 2016

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

11
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

Google also leads in investments, followed by Amazon

Annual number of investments made by FAMGA, 2016 – 2020
16 Apple
Microsoft
Google
12
Facebook
Amazon
8

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
12
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

GV is the most active FAMGA venture arm

Annual number of investments made by FAMGA venture arms, 2016 – 2020

100
GV (Google Ventures)
Google Gradient Ventures
75 capitalG
M12 (Microsoft)
50 Amazon Alexa Fund

25

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Note: GV, Gradient Ventures, and capitalG are venture arms of Google (Alphabet). M12 is Microsoft’s venture arm, while the Alexa Fund is 13
Amazon’s venture arm. Facebook and Apple do not have venture arms.
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

Big tech continues its ascent during pandemic…

Technology became an even more integral part of consumers’ lives and business operations
amid last year’s stay-at-home orders, driving users to FAMGA’s products.

The coronavirus has only made Big Tech Big Tech companies, fully recovered from
more dominant pandemic, report record earnings
July 31, 2020 October 29, 2020

How Big Tech Got Even Bigger One Year Into the Pandemic, Big Tech Is
February 6, 2021 Bigger Than Ever
March 11, 2021

14
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

…and outperforms the market in 2020

Growth of $1,000 invested in a “FAMGA Fund” vs. $1,000 invested in the S&P 500
$2,000
FAMGA growth rate
$1,519
$1,500 51.9%
$1,172 S&P 500 growth rate
$1,000
$1,000 17.2%

$500 FAMGA (aggregate)

S&P 500

$0
1/2/2020 12/31/2020
15
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

FAMGA picks up pace of $1B+ bets in 2020

Collectively, FAMGA
has made 32 $1B+
acquisitions. In 2020,
the group acquired 5
companies for $1B+,
compared to 3 in both
2018 and 2019.

Microsoft has made 12

$1B+ acquisitions, the
most among these tech
giants, followed by
Google, with 8, then
Facebook and Amazon,
which tie at 5 each.

Source: CB Insights 16
 WHAT EXECUTIVES ARE SAYING

We will continue to make significant investments against the

strategic growth opportunities Satya [Nadella, Microsoft CEO]
outlined, organically and through strategic acquisitions like that of
Affirmed Networks this quarter. And we have the flexibility given
our strong financial position and free cash flow generation to do
all of this and support our commitment to capital return.

Amy Hood, Microsoft CFO

Q3’20 earnings call

17
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

After an aggressive H2’20, Q1’21 saw a pull-back in

investments
Quarterly number of investments and acquisitions made by FAMGA, Q1’20 – Q1’21
16
14
13
12 11 Acquisitions
10
9 Investments
8
8 7
6
4 4
4

0
Q1'20 Q2'20 Q3'20 Q4'20 Q1'21
Note: Includes follow-on investments. 18
FAMGA HIGHLIGHTS & MARKET DRIVERS

Google leads pandemic investment activity

FAMGA ranked by number of unique investments, 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)
Rank Investor Select investments

1 +11

2 +9

3 +3

Note: Facebook invested in Reliance Jio via its subsidiary Jaadhu Holdings. 19
Acquisition Trends

20
FAMGA ACQUISITIONS
2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

Auto & mobility

Entertainment & gaming
Enterprise
Retail & consumer
Fintech
Other

21
ACQUISITION TRENDS
Overall FAMGA acquisition themes
2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)
Overview
• Apple and Microsoft are the most active big tech
acquirers since the pandemic began, at 10
acquisitions each. The leaders are followed by
Google (7) and Facebook and Amazon (6 each).
• Amazon is the most active in 2021 so far, with 3
acquisitions in Q1’21. Microsoft is the only other big
tech company to have made an acquisition in Q1’21.
• Google and Amazon primarily deploy capital
outside of acquisitions, including backing or leading
billion-dollar corporate minority rounds to Reliance
Jio (Google, as well as Facebook) and Rivian
(Amazon).
Key themes
• FAMGA acquires companies developing emerging
technologies, from AI to VR to cloud services, to
enhance core products and offerings.
• Big tech’s purchases also include entertainment &
gaming companies, some of which develop
immersive gaming tech like VR (e.g., Sanzaru,
acquired by Facebook). Microsoft’s $7.5B acquisition
of video game publisher ZeniMax Media was the
largest disclosed FAMGA purchase amid Covid-19.
• Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google all made
$1B+ acquisitions over this period, including
Kustomer (Facebook, $1B), Zoox (Amazon, $1.3B),
Affirmed Networks (Microsoft, $1.4B), and Fitbit
(Google, $2.1B). 22
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Facebook diversifies its Where Facebook acquires

bets, acquires emerging 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

tech providers
The platform’s acquisitions of mapping
companies Scape Technologies and
Mapillary will help it further localize its
Facebook Marketplace offering and
other services.
Facebook’s purchase of Lemnis
Technologies, which develops mixed
reality solutions, will support its work on
VR/AR devices. Auto & mobility
Entertainment & gaming
VR game developer Sanzaru, acquired
Enterprise
by Facebook in February 2020, will join
Retail & consumer
its Oculus gaming division.
Other

23
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Facebook’s biggest 2020 acquisition: Kustomer

Facebook announced its
purchase of omnichannel
chatbot company
Kustomer in November
2020.

The $1B acquisition will

help Facebook build
customer service tools for
businesses on its platform.

24
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Apple looks to build new Where Apple acquires

product features with AI, 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

VR, and other iPhone-

focused acquisitions
These include video AI startup
Vilynx, edge computing AI
developer Xnor.ai, and VR
streaming company NextVR.
Entertainment & gaming
Apple also acquired weather app
Enterprise
Dark Sky, mobile payments
Fintech
company Mobeewave, and Retail & consumer
podcast station Scout FM. Other

25
ACQUISITION TRENDS
Apple aims to enhance Siri through acquisitions
SPEECH RECOGNITION
Acquired: 4/3/2020 Acquired:
About: Voysis is an Ireland-based startup developing About:
speech recognition technology for brands to offer
voice-driven interfaces to customers. The
technology enables customers to interact with
electronic systems using natural language and is
expected to enhance Apple’s voice assistant Siri
on the iPhone, Apple Watch, and other devices.
MACHINE LEARNING
5/27/2020
Inductiv is a Canada-based startup developing an
AI platform to identify and correct errors in data.
Inductiv’s technology will be used to clean the data
incorporated into machine learning models,
including data used to train Siri.
26
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Microsoft continues Where Microsoft acquires

building its enterprise 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

technology stack, from

cloud security to IT
software development, with
acquisitions
For example, it acquired UK-based
robotic process automation (RPA)
provider Softomotive in May 2020.
It then acquired IoT cybersecurity
startup CyberX and large-scale
data model developer ADRM
Entertainment & gaming
Software in June.
Enterprise
Other

27
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Microsoft makes $1B+ bets

The tech giant’s biggest acquisitions in 2020 were cloud-native network provider Affirmed
Networks for $1.4B in March and video game publisher ZeniMax Media for $7.5B in September.

Microsoft’s purchase of Affirmed Networks will enable it to
play a more significant role in the edge computing ecosystem,
as 5G and telecom providers are expected to drive adoption of
the tech. The acquisition may also bring some of the telecom
industry’s cloud usage to Microsoft’s Azure platform.
Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent
company of the game developer Bethesda, gives a boost
to its overall gaming strategy. Bethesda’s game
franchises and tech will bolster Microsoft’s video game
brand Xbox’s gaming subscription service.

28
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Google races to grow its Where Google acquires

cloud business, which 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

lags Microsoft’s and

Amazon’s…
The tech giant acquired:
• No-code app development
platform AppSheet in January
2020
• Cloud migration services
provider StratoZone in August
• Data back-up platform Actifio
in December
Enterprise
Retail & consumer

29
ACQUISITION TRENDS

…while bolstering its retail & consumer efforts

FITNESS TECH RETAIL TECH SMART WEARABLES

Acquired: 1/14/2020 Acquired: 1/14/2020 Acquired: 6/30/2020

About: Google completed its About: Google bought Pointy, a About: Google acquired
acquisition of Fitbit, product scanner that can augmented reality
following regulatory help businesses get their glasses developer North
scrutiny around its data inventories online, to to strengthen its
usage, as it looks to gain deepen its relationship hardware and ambient
ground on Apple with with small shops. computing efforts.
smartwatches.
30
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Amazon extends its Where Amazon acquires

reach into new sectors 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

and was the most active

FAMGA acquirer during
Q1’21
The company acquired Finland-
based 3D software developer
Umbra in January 2021, followed
by e-commerce sales platform
Selz in February and India-based
retail payments company Perpule
in March. Auto & mobility
Entertainment & gaming
Enterprise
Retail & consumer
Other
31
ACQUISITION TRENDS

Amazon’s biggest 2020 acquisition: Zoox

In June 2020, the e-commerce giant
acquired self-driving vehicle developer
Zoox for $1.3B. This was a surprising
move given that Zoox is highly focused
on passenger vehicle applications, an
area Amazon has yet to enter.

Amazon may tap into this using its Prime

member cohort and eventually start
offering autonomous ride-sharing or
Zoox unveiled its self-driving taxi in December 2020.
food delivery.

32
Investment Trends

33
FAMGA INVESTMENTS
2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

Auto & mobility

Industrial
Enterprise
Retail & consumer
Fintech
Health
Other

Note: Includes unique investments made by FAMGA. Facebook invested in Reliance Jio via its subsidiary Jaadhu Holdings. Verily Life Sciences and 34
Waymo are Alphabet subsidiaries.
INVESTMENT TRENDS
Overall FAMGA investment themes
2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)
Overview
• Google leads FAMGA in unique investments (16)
since the start of the pandemic, followed by Amazon
(14) and Microsoft (8). During this time, Facebook
made 4 investments (including a $5.7B corporate
minority round to Reliance Jio) and Apple made 1.
• In Q1’21, Amazon made the most investments (4) out
of FAMGA, followed by Microsoft (3), then Google and
Apple (1 each, a co-investment to UnitedMasters).
• FAMGA has made overlapping investments across
industries, from modular home developer Factory OS
(Facebook & Google) to India-based news app
DailyHunt (Google & Microsoft).
Key themes
• FAMGA uses investments to bet on new markets
and tech adjacent to core offerings, such as mobility
(Microsoft), biopharmaceuticals (Google), and
financial services (Amazon).
• Since the start of 2020, FAMGA’s investment
focuses also include renewable and at-home tech
(Microsoft, Amazon), cloud security (Microsoft,
Google), and healthcare (Google).
• Big tech looks to gain ground with consumers in
India, with Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and
Google all making investments to companies based
in the country.
35
INVESTMENT TRENDS

Microsoft focuses on
Where Microsoft invests
renewable tech... 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)
For example, the company recently led
a corporate minority round to carbon
capture firm Climeworks and backed
carbon removal company CarbonCure
Technologies’ Series E round.
It also participated in environmental
sensor company Aclima’s $40M Series
B round in November 2020.
In January 2021, Microsoft joined a
$2B corporate minority round to GM-
owned Cruise Automation, which Auto & mobility
develops electric self-driving vehicles. Industrial
Enterprise
Retail & consumer
Other

36
INVESTMENT TRENDS
…and positions itself as the go-to Industrial Fintech Retail & consumer

enterprise cybersecurity provider Enterprise Health Other

Bubble size and placement corresponds to total number of M12-backed
ahead of ever-more insecure cyber investments in a company, 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

future
Microsoft’s M12 venture arm has backed
a range of cybersecurity companies since
the start of the pandemic, like Israel-
based threat detection platform
Hunters.AI.

M12 followed up its 2016 and 2019

investments in Aqua Security in March
2021, participating in the enterprise cloud
security company’s $135M Series E that
valued it at $1B.

M12 also participated in UK-based

identity verification software provider
Onfido’s $100M Series D in April 2020.

37
INVESTMENT TRENDS

The pandemic accelerated Where Google invests

Google’s existing focus on 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

healthcare
The tech giant backed conversational AI and
mental health companion Wysa and
precision oncology library Tempus.

It also participated in rounds to care

platform Cityblock Health and health
insurance provider Oscar Health.

A number of Google’s investments have

overlapped with other FAMGA companies,
investing alongside Facebook (Factory OS),
Apple (UnitedMasters), and Microsoft
(DailyHunt). Google also led a $4.5B
corporate minority round to Reliance Jio 3 Retail & consumer
months after Facebook’s $5.7B investment. Auto & mobility Fintech
Industrial Health
Enterprise Other
Note: Verily Life Sciences and Waymo are Alphabet subsidiaries.
38
INVESTMENT TRENDS Fintech Retail & consumer Industrial Entertainment

GV eyes drug
Auto & mobility Health Enterprise Other
Bubble size and placement corresponds to total number of GV-backed investments
in a company, 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

development cos
Since the start of the pandemic,
Google’s venture arm has backed:

• Low-cost drug maker EQRx ($200M

Series A and $500M Series B);

• Therapeutic manufacturing tech

company RESILIENCE ($800M
Series B);

• And drug discovery platform insitro

($143M Series B and $400M Series
C), among others.

39
INVESTMENT TRENDS
GV also bets on the future of work
WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
Round: Series E (10/6/2020) Amount: $100M
About: Dialpad is an AI-powered cloud communications
platform for businesses, providing calling,
conferencing, and call center services. The
company reportedly hit $100M in ARR in March
2021. GV’s participation in Dialpad’s Series E
marks the sixth time the venture arm has backed
the company since 2011.
CLOUD SERVICES
Round: Series E (1/12/2021) Amount: $160M
About: Cockroach Labs develops CockroachDB, a cloud-
native distributed database. Featured on CB
Insights’ 50 Future Unicorns list, the startup
garnered a $2.2B valuation at the time of its Series
E round. GV also participated in the company’s
May 2020 Series D as well as all of its previously
disclosed funding rounds since 2015.
40
 WHAT EXECUTIVES ARE SAYING

Cloud and productivity software for businesses of all sizes is a

deep area of investment. … we continue to focus anywhere we
think the actual work we are doing is based on. Deep technology,
deep computing, deep computational scale is the kind of
investments we think still stand the test of time through things
like that.

Sundar Pichai, Alphabet CEO

Q1’20 earnings call

41
INVESTMENT TRENDS

Amazon makes inroads Where Amazon invests

in India, leads Q1’21 2020 – 2021 YTD (3/31/21)

investment activity…
The e-commerce giant invested in India-
based marketplaces like MyGlamm
(beauty), BankBazaar (financial
products), and Shuttl (bus aggregator).

It also backed digital insurance platform

Acko General Insurance and financial
services firm Capital Float, both based
in India.

In Q1’21, alongside investing in Auto & mobility

MyGlamm, Amazon also backed Industrial

Infinium, while making follow-on Retail & consumer

investments to Rivian and Deliveroo. Fintech

Other

42
INVESTMENT TRENDS

…while the Alexa Fund works Enterprise Retail & consumer Other

to build out the smart home Amazon Alexa Fund-backed investments, 2020 – 2021 YTD
(3/31/21)

Amazon’s venture arm backed Span,

which develops a smart electrical panel
for homeowners, in December 2020.
It also participated in a Series C round
to SmartRent, which develops
connected home tech for property
managers and renters, in May 2020,
following up on its 2019 investment in
the startup.
In October 2020, it funded smart indoor
gardening system Rise Garden’s Series
A extension.

43
INVESTMENT TRENDS

Apple & Facebook make fewer investments

compared with other giants
Facebook’s 2 consumer platform investments in
2020 point to its ambitions of modeling itself as a
super app, or destination for a variety of consumer
needs. Facebook invested in:

• Reliance Jio, a subsidiary of India’s telecom

While Apple typically acquires rather than
giant Reliance Industries;
invests in companies, it made one investment at
• And Gojek, an Indonesia-based on-demand the tail end of Q1’21, leading a $50M Series B to
ride-hailing and delivery service. UnitedMasters.
Facebook also backed edtech startup Unacademy Apple also signed a strategic partnership with
and modular construction company Factory OS. the independent music distribution platform.
The collaboration will likely enable new
integrations with Apple Music.

Note: Facebook invested in Reliance Jio via its subsidiary Jaadhu Holdings. 44
Methodology
CB Insights encourages you to review the methodology and definitions employed to better understand the numbers
presented in this report. If you have any questions about the definitions or methodological principles used, we encourage
you to reach out to CB Insights directly. Additionally, if you feel your firm has been under-represented, please send an
email to info@cbinsights.com and we can work together to ensure your firm’s investment data is up to date.

What is included: Notes:

• Equity financings to tech-enabled companies
made by Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google (and
its parent Alphabet), Amazon (FAMGA) corporate
standalone entities only, unless otherwise noted.
Financings may be double-counted if they include
more than one backer among FAMGA.
• Acquisitions by FAMGA (as defined above). This
also includes P2P acquisitions, company talent
acquisitions, asset sales, and corporate majority
rounds. Acquired units or pending acquisitions
are not included.
• For the purposes of this report, we define the Covid-
19 pandemic as starting January 1, 2020.
• Retail & consumer includes retail tech and services,
e-commerce, logistics, CPG, and food & beverage
companies.
• Enterprise includes companies offering IT, cloud,
cybersecurity, HR, developer, and general enterprise
software solutions, excluding telecom providers.
• Historical funding data is subject to change as our
technology & data operations explore global
datasets and refine company classifications.
45