SA国际传媒

This has been a busy week for unicorns making acquisitions.

On July 1, Canada-based legal software company revealed its plans to acquire Spain鈥檚 from for $1 billion. And, 鈥� which has been on a buying spree as of late 鈥� announced its intent to acquire , an AI-native email app.

Clio plans to use cash and stock to fund its purchase of vLex. In , Clio CEO said the buy is an example of Clio 鈥渓aying the foundation for the first and only cloud-based, AI-powered platform that seamlessly connects the business and practice of law.鈥�

Founded in 2008, Clio in the past described itself as 鈥渢he operating system for law firms.鈥� Its software helps law firms automate processes such as client intake, accounting and document management, among other things. It was valued at $3 billion in July 2024 when it raised $900 million in a Series F funding round led by .

As Clio faces greater competition from the likes of 3-year-old startup , which in June raised at a $5 billion valuation, it is clearly trying to get ahead in the legaltech AI race. In his blog post, Newton said: 鈥淣ow, with our acquisition of vLex, we鈥檙e bringing even more to Clio, including extensive legal research and the industry-leading AI known as Vincent.鈥�

Per SA国际传媒 data, Clio鈥檚 planned purchase of vLex so far in 2025 so far.

Grammarly makes another move

For its part, San Francisco-based Grammarly said its purchase of Superhuman is 鈥減art of the company鈥檚 move to become an AI productivity suite.鈥� According to a spokesperson, with the acquisition Grammarly 鈥渋s bringing agentic AI directly to the inbox.鈥澛� It follows the company鈥檚 January acquisition of , a maker of AI productivity tools.

In a statement, Grammarly CEO , said the buys are in line with the company鈥檚 plans to bring AI 鈥渄irectly to users everywhere they work.鈥�

He added: 鈥淓mail isn鈥檛 just another app; it鈥檚 where professionals spend significant portions of their day, and it鈥檚 the perfect staging ground for orchestrating multiple AI agents simultaneously.鈥�

The purchase shouldn鈥檛 come as a big surprise. When Grammarly announced in late May that it had secured $1 billion in funding from longtime investor , the company said it planned to use its new capital 鈥渢o scale sales and marketing and for strategic acquisitions.鈥�

When it comes to other unicorns making acquisitions in 2025, the three largest deals involved AI companies so far this year are:

• in a deal that valued at $33 billion;
• for $6.5 billion; and
• for $3 billion.

Overall, there have been 181 acquisitions announced by unicorns in 2025, according to SA国际传媒 data.

Related SA国际传媒 queries:

Related reading:

• Legal Tech Startup Clio Raises Whopping $900M At $3B Valuation
• With An Eye Toward More Acquisitions, AI-Powered Grammarly Raises $1B from General Catalyst
• Global M&A Startup Dealmaking Sees Year-To-Year Boost In Q1
• Private Company Purchases By PE Firms Hold Up Amid Market Turbulence
• These Private, VC-Backed Companies Are The Most-Active, Spendiest Startup Acquirers

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