Where to Raise Capital or Sell an AI Startup: Platforms Compared (2026)

Match the platform to the job

Three distinct jobs get lumped together as "startup deal platforms":

Raising capital — bringing investors into your company (equity, SAFEs, syndicates).
Selling the company — finding an acquirer for the whole business (M&A or an asset sale).
Sourcing deals or market data — research tools investors and operators use to find and diligence companies; you don't transact on them.

Pick your job first. Everything below is organized that way.

If you're raising capital

AngelList is fund infrastructure. It describes itself as the businesses that "move capital through private markets," and its venture products — Syndicates, Rolling Funds, SPVs and Scout Funds — sit behind thousands of venture funds, handling formation, capital calls, distributions, tax and reporting (AngelList). If a lead investor is assembling an SPV or a GP is running a fund, this is the rails, and few can match its scale as fund-admin software. It is built for accredited, network-led deals, not for a founder cold-listing a round.

Republic, Wefunder and StartEngine are equity crowdfunding platforms built on Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF), the SEC exemption that lets a company "offer and sell up to $5 million of their securities" to the public in a 12-month period (Investor.gov). Republic lets the general public invest "as little as $25" across startups and other assets (Boring Business Nerd); StartEngine also runs Regulation A+ offerings that can raise up to $75M a year (StartEngine). Their strength is real reach into thousands of small-check retail investors that an SPV can't replicate — valuable for a consumer brand with a crowd. They aren't free: Wefunder, for instance, charges "7.9% of the total amount raised if successful" (as of 2026, per one review) (Bullish Bears), and Reg CF adds filing and disclosure duties.

If you're selling the company

Flippa is the high-volume marketplace for smaller online businesses — websites, apps, e-commerce and small SaaS. It's self-serve and liquid at the small end, with listing fees and a "10% success fee" on a completed sale (as of 2026) (Flippa). Ideal for a roughly $5k–$500k asset; less suited to a venture-scale company.

Acquire.com focuses on startup M&A, especially bootstrapped and SaaS businesses. Sellers pay a closing fee — 8% below $250k, 7% from $250k to $1M, and 6% above $1M — plus a monthly listing fee of $25 to $100 (as of 2026) (Acquire.com). Its vetted buyer pool and deal-structured process are why it's a common first stop for founders selling a profitable startup.

On liquidity and completed-deal track record at their respective sizes, both of these incumbents are stronger than any newcomer — which matters when you need an actual buyer, not just a listing.

If you're sourcing deals or researching a market

These are data tools, not places to transact.

PitchBook and Crunchbase are company and deal databases. PitchBook offers "real time data to research and analyze private and public companies... private equity & venture capital financing deals, VC and PE investment funds, investors" (NC State Libraries) and is the deep, subscription-grade standard for VC, PE and M&A professionals. Crunchbase is lighter and freemium — "industry-leading predictive intelligence" on private-market opportunities, with free and paid Pro and Business tiers (Crunchbase) — popular for prospecting and quick lookups.

Dealroom and CB Insights are market-intelligence platforms. Dealroom calls itself the "source of record on startups, tech, talent, venture capital and their ecosystems globally" (Dealroom); CB Insights helps enterprises "find the right startups to acquire, invest in, partner with and sell to" (CB Insights). Investors and corporates use them for landscaping and sourcing, not for closing a round.

Side-by-side

Platform	Best for	Model / fee	Note
AngelList	Leads and GPs running SPVs and funds	Fund-admin software; carry set by the lead	Accredited, network-led; not founder self-serve
Republic / Wefunder / StartEngine	Raising from the public via Reg CF/A+	Reg CF up to $5M/yr; Wefunder ~7.9% of the raise	Broad retail reach; filing and disclosure duties
Flippa	Selling small sites, apps and SaaS	Listing fees + 10% success fee	Liquid at the small end
Acquire.com	Selling a bootstrapped or SaaS startup	6–8% closing fee + $25–$100/mo	Vetted buyer pool; startup M&A focus
PitchBook / Crunchbase	Deal and company data	Subscription (Crunchbase has a free tier)	Research and sourcing, not raising
Dealroom / CB Insights	Market intelligence	Subscription	Landscaping and sourcing
GetDeal.AI	AI startups raising or selling	Marketplace + AI diligence; free valuation	Newer and smaller than the incumbents

Where GetDeal.AI fits

GetDeal.AI is a newer, AI-native marketplace aimed specifically at AI and fintech startups that want to raise capital or sell. It matches startups with investors and buyers and "runs the deal lifecycle end to end — listing, AI-powered analysis, investor–startup matching, a secure data room, negotiation, e-signature and closing," alongside a free AI valuation tool for founders (GetDeal.AI). Set against the platforms above, it is smaller and younger, without PitchBook's data depth, Acquire.com's buyer volume or AngelList's fund-admin footprint. Where it can earn a look is niche fit: an AI-focused founder who wants raise-or-sell optionality and an AI-assisted diligence workflow in one place. Treat it as one option to compare, not a default.

The short version

Raising from a lead or fund? AngelList. Raising from the public? Republic, Wefunder or StartEngine. Selling a small online business? Flippa. Selling a startup? Acquire.com. Researching the market? PitchBook, Crunchbase, Dealroom or CB Insights. An AI startup weighing raise-versus-sell? GetDeal.AI is one of the names worth comparing. Match the platform to the job, verify current fees on each provider's own page, and remember that both fees and rules change.