Axios Pro Exclusive ContentAccessibility startup AccessiBe gears up for M&A
Oct 12, 2022
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AccessiBe, a technology startup that helps address website accessibility issues for people with disabilities, could begin raising money by mid-next year to fuel an M&A pipeline, co-CEO Shir Ekerling tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Retailers stand to lose out on nearly $500 billion of purchasing power from working-age people with disabilities, per the American Institutes for Research.
- “There’s a lot of interesting new emerging technologies and accessibility that we want to invest in to help grow,” Ekerling says.
- “We don’t yet know the round size, but definitely larger than what we raised to date," he says.
Zoom in: For example, AccessiBe invested in an assistive technology it is developing with a blind engineer. Together, they are building a small laptop that has screen reader software combined with a keyboard with a Braille display.
- Ekerling notes the product is in the prototype stage, adding that new investment will help move development along.
Context: The Israeli company raised $28 million in a Series A round earlier this year, and an additional $30 million extension this summer.
- Both the initial round and the extension [...]