For more than one billion US dollars: Workday from California buys Swedish AI startup Sana

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The Gründerszene Exit Ticker provides you with daily updates on the most important exits and acquisitions from the startup and VC world – both in Germany and internationally. From strategic acquisitions to spectacular takeovers and major IPOs: everything you need to know at a glance.

September 17

The Swedish AI startup Sana was acquired by the California-based HR software company Workday for $1.1 billion (approximately €929 million). The Stockholm-based company is developing a "knowledge assistant" that indexes company information and makes it searchable using AI. Sana has more than doubled its valuation since a Series B round in October ($500 million). The acquisition follows a trend among American tech giants to acquire promising European startups – following AMD's Silo AI purchase ($665 million) and Salesforce's Convergence acquisition ($200 million).

The Swiss fintech Teylor is acquiring a majority stake in Düsseldorf-based Capetec GmbH , integrating the technology DNA of the former fintech market leader Compeon into the group. Capetec was founded in 2024 by former Compeon managers and develops SaaS solutions for automated SME lending. With this acquisition – the third transaction within 18 months following Creditshelf and the Grenke factoring deal – Teylor aims to build the most powerful white-label SaaS platform for SME lending in Europe and advance its pan-European consolidation strategy in the digital corporate finance market.