Transformational exits that maximize value and change lives

we are

Unconventional M&A advisors

We exclusively serve innovation-based companies with disruptive IP.

We’re former CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs who understand how tech entrepreneurs think and what’s important to them, because we’ve walked in their shoes. We’re former operators, not bankers.

Our extensive roots in high-tech and life sciences allow us to achieve strategic valuations based on our clients’ business, intellectual property and team – rather than solely on traditional multiples-based valuations.

We’re passionate about technology and people, working to help our clients scale their companies faster, achieve personal success, and have the full impact they originally set out to achieve when creating their company.

Based in Silicon Valley and Vancouver, we work with companies from around the globe.

We deliver.
$3B+
in closed transactions
we Work With

The world's most innovative companies

Our clients are building new technologies, expanding frontiers, and changing lives – in all areas of innovation, including deep tech, SaaS, AI, genomics, medtech and much more.

We work with companies at all stages, from pre-revenue startups with revolutionary intellectual property to rapidly-scaling companies that are disrupting their industries.

We achieve transformative exits to leading strategic and financial buyers by leveraging our extensive relationships across tech, life science, and private equity.

We drive value from the intersection
of our executive, technical
and M&A experience
our clients

Love our experience. And our results

"There's no question, this deal would not have been possible without Aqua. They sold us for 9X our valuation at our last financing which we had closed just 8 months earlier."
Anders Ballestad, CEO, MTT Innovation
(acquired by Barco)
"Was great to work with you and the Aqua team. By far the most collaborative and useful advisor I have ever dealt with."
Zach Kirkman, Head of M&A, Tesla
"We first tried selling our company on our own, but when the deal we cut fell through, we hired Aqua. The board and I were ecstatic when they sold the company for over 10 times the value of our original deal."
Confidential Client CEO & Founder
"Aqua developed a deep understanding of our technology and business, rolled up their sleeves and got several serious offers, then worked tirelessly to close the transaction at a valuation I never thought possible. I can't recommend them enough."
Chris Adlparvar, CEO, Copypants
(acquired by Xperi)
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"I also wanted to call out the efforts of your advisors Andy Talbot and Tim Botham. They did an amazing job and if you had some hand in hiring them, well done, there wouldn't have been a deal without their work." - excerpt from a letter sent upon transaction close, from the acquirer's deal lead to the board of Aqua's client
Mike McKenna, CFO, LifeSpeak
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"Aqua closed a very successful deal for Later by working as an extension of our team, learning our business, technology and market inside-out, developing our exit strategy, and speaking directly to over 40 potential strategic buyers and 60 PE firms. Despite the pandemic, the Aqua team never wavered in their commitment to getting the best possible deal for Later’s shareholders.”
Roger Patterson, CEO, Later
(acquired by Summit Partners)
"Aqua found a buyer who wasn’t someone we originally thought would buy us. Now, being part of a global player, our technology will have an opportunity to have a significant impact on people’s lives.”
Andre Marziali, Boreal Genomics
(buyer undisclosed)
“Tim and Andy generated multiple strong offers from buyers that fit our target criteria, resulting in finding a buyer that's a fantastic cultural and strategic fit. We couldn’t be happier with our new home, and can’t recommend Aqua enough.”

Kyle Porter, CEO, Bit Quill (acquired by Improving)
“I’ve followed Aqua since it was founded by Andy, Tim and Morgan, and have been extremely impressed with their unique approach, value proposition and success. Aqua fills a niche that’s not addressed by traditional Investment Bankers.”
Keith Spencer, Counsel, Fasken Martineau
(legal counsel)
”Aqua’s team-focused approach was critical to our success. They successfully navigated many obstacles to close our deal, including finding a creative deal structure that worked for both our buyer and our shareholders.”
Elliot Stone, CEO, ALAViDA
(acquired by Lifespeak)
“Andy and Tim helped us reposition our corporate messaging, supported our BD with major strategic buyers, and got us ready to sell. They initiated and led discussions with all the major companies in our industry and came up with a creative deal structure to get our deal done.”
Nathan Mackenzie, CEO, Storm Kiosks
(acquired by Reynolds & Reynolds)
“Nimbus has worked with Aqua several times, and they’ve always done a first-class job. I highly recommend them for tech and life-science companies looking to exit.”
Paul Geyer, CEO, Nimbus Synergies
(venture capital)
“Aqua has sold multiple UBC spin-out companies. They expertly navigate the many university stakeholders and have achieved exceptional results in every case.”

JP Heale, Managing Director, UBC UILO (University-Industry Liaison Office)

“The Aqua team was wonderful to work with. Their experience in building and working with companies like ours, along with their integrity and really caring about getting us the outcome we wanted, made them a trusted partner who stuck with us until the end.”
Matthew Nesbitt, CEO, Coastal Geonomics
(acquired by Yourgene Health)
“Aqua developed a very strong technical understanding of our AI-based product, long before AI was really a thing, and used this to get us a valuation that we would never have been able to achieve with a traditional investment banker.”
Bill Bilic, CEO, Knowillage
(acquired by Desire2Learn)
“Andy and Tim created a strategy to get us acquired by our ideal buyer, then executed to get us a fantastic deal. Their technology and business backgrounds allowed them to really understand our core technology and position and explain the strategic value of what we do. I’d recommend them to other founders in a heartbeat.”
Eric Din, CEO, Undisclosed transaction
”Aqua stuck with us throughout extended delays due to COVID. Once the market opened back up, they got us a very successful exit to one of the biggest players in our industry. I was impressed by their persistence, creativity and professionalism. I can’t imagine how the deal would have happened without them."
Angus Livingston, Chairman, Paragon Testing
(aquired by Prometric)
Read all of our testimonials
We help our clients achieve scale.
Faster
we DELIVER

Exceptional transactions

Example transactions on which Aqua acted as the exclusive sell-side M&A advisor

acquired by

ev battery
TECHNOLOGY

acquired by

Marketing
saas

acquired by

Video
algorithms

acquired by

optical
hardware

acquired by

DNA TARGET
ENRICHMENT

acquired by

Gene Sampling
hardware

acquired by

Education testing
saas

acquired by

NANOPORE MOLECULAR
ANALYSIS

acquired by

hardware-enabled
saas for automotive

acquired by

software engineering
services

acquired by

gene sequencing
tools

acquired by

AI based
saas

acquired by

digital health
saas

acquired by

ev battery
TECHNOLOGY

acquired by

Marketing
saas

acquired by

Video
algorithms

acquired by

optical
hardware

acquired by

DNA TARGET
ENRICHMENT

acquired by

ev battery
Technology

acquired by

Marketing
saas

acquired by

Video
algorithms

acquired by

optical
hardware

acquired by

DNA TARGET
ENRICHMENT

acquired by

Gene Sampling
hardware

acquired by

Education testing
saas

acquired by

NANOPORE MOLECULAR
ANALYSIS

acquired by

hardware-enabled
saas for automotive

acquired by

software engineering
services

acquired by

gene sequencing
tools

acquired by

AI based
saas

acquired by

Digital health
saas

acquired by

EV battery
TECHNOLOGY

acquired by

Marketing
saas

acquired by

optical
hardware

acquired by

ev battery
TECHNOLOGY

acquired by

Marketing
saas

acquired by

Video
algorithms

acquired by

optical
hardware

acquired by

DNA TARGET
ENRICHMENT

acquired by

Gene Sampling
hardware

acquired by

Education testing
saas

acquired by

NANOPORE MOLECULAR
ANALYSIS

acquired by

hardware-enabled
saas for automotive

acquired by

software engineering
services

acquired by

gene sequencing
tools

acquired by

AI based
saas

acquired by

Digital health
saas

Negotiation is about creativity,
not compromise
meet our

Managing partners

Our Managing Partners lead every step of the M&A process, allowing our clients to stay focused on growing their businesses

40+ M&A transactions totaling over $3B

75 years of executive leadership

Collaborating on transactions for over 25 years

Andy Talbot

About

Andy is a serial entrepreneur, having founded 8 advanced technology startups. Andy was a founder of the entrepreneurship program at the University of British Columbia (e@UBC), where he helped launch over 36 technology and life sciences companies in just 3 years. Andy has sat on numerous tech-industry corporate boards. Andy specializes in strategy and creative deal-making.

TIM BOTHAM

About

Tim has broad executive experience, having served in various executive roles at small, medium and large high-tech companies. Prior to co-founding Aqua, Tim served on the buy-side M&A team at MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, one of Canada’s largest technology firms. Tim serves in various tech advisory positions. Tim focuses on business strategy and corporate positioning.

MORGAN STURDY

About

Morgan has over 30 years of executive experience in the tech industry. He has served on over 20 corporate boards, chaired the boards of BC Tech, VEF, and Science World, is a past recipient of the BC Tech Lifetime Achievement Award, and served on the BC Premier’s Technology Council for 8 years. Morgan has led or been involved in some of BC’s largest M&A exits, including the sale of CREO to Kodak ($1.2B), HotHaus to Broadcom, and TIR to Philips.

Partners and advisors

Our partners and advisors provide deep technology and domain experience

ANDRE MARZIALI, PH.D.

Genomics and
Biotech

About

Andre was Co-founder, CSO, & President of Boreal Genomics which achieved a successful exit in 2021. Andre completed his PhD in Physics from Stanford University, and then worked under Prof. Ron Davis developing instruments for DNA sequencing and sample purification. Andre holds over 20 patents in the area of DNA target enrichment. Andre also holds the position of Director of Engineering Physics at the University of British Columbia. Andre provides technical, market, and industry expertise to Aqua in the area of genomics and biotechnology.

DON TURNBULL, PH.D.

Artificial Intelligence,
IP Strategy

About

Don is an AI and ML industry veteran, with a focus on data-centric system architectures and intellectual property strategy. Don is an active consultant to the world’s largest tech companies and has been involved in multiple successful start-ups. Don was a principal at Outride, a Xerox PARC spin-out, which was acquired by Google. Don provides technical expertise to Aqua in the area of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and support to Aqua’s clients on IP strategy.

MICHAEL HENSoN

Deep Tech /
Hard Tech

About

Michael is a serial entrepreneur and polymath with over 30-year’s experience in technology invention and commercialisation. He has a deep understanding, specialist knowledge and dozens of patents in virtual reality, video analysis, computer graphics, and artificial intelligence related to both software and hardware. Michael provides technical and market expertise to Aqua in a broad range of application areas.

LENARD REID

Analyst and
Outreach

About

Lenard has 25-years experience in tech across business development, strategic partnerships and sales. He has been on both the sell-side and buy-side of multiple transactions and and provides a deep understanding of positioning and presenting companies to match the needs of an acquiring company. Lenard leads market intelligence, analytics and modelling activities, and supports Aqua’s outreach activities.

Selling an innovation-based company is a
combination of Art and Science
we GIVE

Community support

We love to share our time and expertise with the high-tech & life science communities, and have provided our Exit Readiness training to over 1000 founders and CEOs

Learn about M&A

Exit Readiness: Things I Wish I Knew About Building and Selling My Company When I Was CEO

Workshop presenting practical exit advice from tech and life science CEOs and their Acquirers. Request the presentation deck
8:40
The Basics of M&A (video)
What every tech and life science startup CEO needs to know about M&A when building their company, including best practices for becoming exit ready, setting investor expectations, and ideal exit timing.
3:17
The M&A Process (video)
A walk-through of the typical acquisition process for tech and life science startups, including each stage of the process, from developing an exit strategy to closing the deal.
Creative Destruction Lab

Proud Partner of Creative Destruction Lab

Through our partnership with CDL, Aqua provides educational content and mentoring to leading science and technology-based companies from around the world.
Other

We deliver our training to leading VCs, accelerators and incubators including

AriseHealth logo
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AriseHealth logo
AriseHealth logo
AriseHealth logo
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We believe in business driven
by social purpose
our values
We give back by sharing a percentage of our revenue through Aqua4Kids, helping children
overcome adversity and realize their true potential.
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Aqua4Kids is a proud sponsor of
Play Roly is a free at-home learning activity for teaching children aged 3-5 the essential first steps to reading. Based on decades of science of reading research, Play Roly is designed to help kids overcome reading challenges.
info@aquamna.com
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