The Golden Age of M&A + AI Consolidation: Meta, Stripe, OpenAI
Plus: Brex’s Road to IPO, Art Levy, Chief Business Officer
Acquire Smarter, Move Faster
I am SO excited to share our conversation with the one & only, Art Levy. Art is the Chief Business Officer at Brex, the $12.3 billion modern finance behemoth. We break down many hot topics from AI to Happy Gilmore 2, starting with one of the largest market shifts right now: the Golden Age of M&A.
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With mega-acquisitions, reverse acqui-hires, and aggressive consolidation beginning to accelerate across the AI landscape, this year is shaping up to be an especially active one. From Meta’s $14B 49% stake in Scale AI, to Google’s $32B Wiz deal, & Stripe’s aggressive crypto rail buildout, Art offers a sharp view into the strategies behind the biggest moves in tech & finance.
We go deep on:
The rise of “tuck-in” M&A (Scale AI) & AI consolidation
Best & worst practices for M&A
Acceleration of crypto rails (Stripe’s acq of Bridge & Privy)
Brex’s MASSIVE growth:
80% YoY enterprise revenue growth, 140% NRR, $100B+ in TPV run rate
Brex’s structural advantage vs. Ramp, Amex, & legacy banks
Raising $1.5B & the road to IPO
Deep Dive Below!
Brex has evolved far beyond its startup roots and is now powering financial operations for over 200 public companies, including leading global players like Arm, Anthropic, eToro, Neuralink, Scale AI, Wiz, Mercor, Cluely, etc. Plus, 1 in 3 venture-backed startups in the U.S. (not too bad).
With multiple $100M+ revenue lines, Brex combines a globally distributed payments platform with spend management software, banking infrastructure, & AI-powered automation. Brex is redefining what it means to be mission-critical infrastructure for modern CFOs, with durable revenue streams, strong retention, & a clear path to IPO.
Bullish on Brex.
Brex Funding Stats:
Last valuation: $12.3B, primary round done in late 2021
Investors: YC, DST Global, Greenoaks, Tiger Global, Ribbit, TCV, Kleiner Perkins, IVP, Lone Pine, GIC, Baillie Gifford, Madrone Capital Partners
Total funding: $1.5B including a tender offer in early 2022 for $250M at the same $12.3B valuation.
Brought to you by:
Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel.
As a Sourcery subscriber you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → brex.com/sourcery
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Highlights:
(00:00) Massive AI Consolidation
(03:28) Art Levy's Journey to CBO at Brex
(07:15) Brex's $12.3B Evolution & Path to IPO
(13:05) Current State of M&A (Meta, Stripe, OpenAI)
(22:47) Meta's Strategic Moves in AI
(36:19) Best & Worst Practices for M&A
(48:47) 3 Types of M&A
(51:09) Brex's M&A & Partnership Approach
(52:22) Brex's Modular Product Strategy
(53:30) Strategic Partnerships (Zip, Coupa, Navan, Warp)
(01:03:52) Exploring Stablecoins, Crypto Rails, & Global Finance Infrastructure
(01:07:13) Dethroning Amex: Brex's Market Position & Competitive Edge
(01:23:51) Rise of AI & AI Agents in Finance
(01:26:01) Brex's Massive Growth & Market Strategy
(01:30:10) Future Predictions: AI, Finance, Waymo, Happy Gilmore
Something big is happening in tech. M&A is back, not just in volume, but in velocity, creativity, & stakes. According to Brex Chief Business Officer Art Levy, this is a defining moment:
“We’re entering a golden age of M&A right now. There’s a bunch of factors melding together, the consolidators are getting bigger, they’re taking bets on high-flying companies, and the administration is allowing a lot of M&A to take place.”
Carta data shows 200+ Seed through Series B companies have been acquired in 2025 alone, up 200% year-over-year. And billion-dollar+ transactions are pacing 68% higher than 2024.
Recent $1B+ Tech M&A Deals
Google → Wiz – $32B but only 1.6% of market cap ($2T)
OpenAI → Windsurf – $3B but only 1% of market cap ($300B)
OpenAI → Jony Ive’s firm – $6.5B but only 2.5% of market cap ($300B)
Salesforce → Informatica – $8B but only 3% of market cap ($250B)
Capital One → Discover – Merger creating the largest card issuer by loan volume
Stripe → Bridge – Stablecoin payments infrastructure bet
Levy notes a recurring pattern: mega companies buying at ~1–3% of their market cap.
“It’s not transformative M&A, it’s moat-compounding. These are call-option bets by consolidators.”
But it’s not just the top end of the market that’s active. Traditional fintechs like Amex and Paylocity have quietly acquired small challengers (Center, Airbase, Yokoy.ai) to close product gaps.
AI is Forcing Industry Consolidation.. & Zuck’s Playing 4D Chess
The most aggressive activity is coming from companies racing to secure AI talent. Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are engaging in what Levy calls “reverse acqui-hires,” acquisitions structured around acquiring talent and brand names, not products.
“It’s acqui-hires on steroids. Back in the day it was $1M per engineer. Now it’s billions for founders with recognizable names.”
The most talked-about? Meta’s $14B for 49% of Scale AI, bringing on CEO Alex Wang and enabling full integration ‘without’ triggering antitrust:
“By buying 49%, Meta avoids control, but gets the team, the headlines, and the market narrative. It’s masterful public market signaling.”
Other examples include:
Google bringing Character.ai’s founders into DeepMind
Amazon hiring Adept talent
OpenAI acquiring Windsurf + Jony Ive
Microsoft structuring its Inflection AI deal to avoid FTC pushback
“Distribution is now more valuable than ever. Big players are asking: who’s moving fast, and who can we plug into our channels?”
The Art of M&A:
After executing multiple M&A deals and large partnerships, Levy shared hard-earned lessons on how founders should approach acquisition conversations:
What Works
Use partnerships as a wedge:
“Try before you buy. Partnerships build trust and surface customer value.”Own a niche + NPS:
“In an AI world, go deep not wide. Nail your wedge and early distribution.”Stay in the flow:
“Post on X. Go on Sourcery. Make sure buyers know you exist.”
What Doesn’t
Being too nice:
“Nice doesn’t win M&A. Be direct. Demand decision-makers. Don’t waste time with Corp Dev sniffers.”Chasing deals too early:
“You lose leverage when you’re emotionally sold but the LOI isn’t signed.”
“The best M&A happens when there’s a real champion on the other side, ideally, the founder or CEO. Not Corp Dev middlemen.”
He closes with a nod to The Outsiders, by William Thorndike, a favorite capital allocation book:
“M&A should be viewed just like hiring or R&D. It’s not about excitement. It’s about solving problems for customers and creating shareholder value.”
Brex’s Road to IPO: From Startup Cards to Global Finance OS
Brex was founded in 2017 by Henrique Dubugras & Pedro Franceschi as the first corporate card built for startups. Today, it processes $100B+ in total payment volume run-rate, has over 200+ public company customers, and is evolving into the global financial operating system. As a result, 60% of Brex’s revenue now comes from outside silicon valley’s startup ecosystem.
By shifting their focus to the enterprise, they’re carving a direct path to higher volume, bigger partnerships.. and yes, a potential IPO.
“Our enterprise business grew revenue 80% YoY. Net revenue retention is near 140%. We’re becoming mission-critical infrastructure for CFOs.”
Brex’s Full-Stack Platform Combines:
Global corporate cards
Expense management
Bill pay & reimbursements
Travel & procurement integration (e.g. Navan, Zip)
Treasury, FX, & multi-entity control
Brex’s vision:
“Brex breaks the trade-off between speed and control. Before us, you either moved fast or stayed compliant. Now you can do both.”
On IPO readiness:
“We want to operate like a public company now, predictable growth, strong controls, and market education. Toast’s CFO did this masterfully. So did Shopify.”
Brex isn’t just a card business, its model mirrors modern fintech winners with majority payments revenue (like Toast and Shopify) but deep software lock-in.
Why Modular Finance Is the Future & How Brex Is Building It
Finance leaders are moving away from legacy suites and toward modular systems. AI, global operations, and real-time visibility demand flexibility. Brex is betting big on this shift.
“CFOs are re-architecting their finance stacks, ditching disconnected tools for integrated platforms. Brex simplifies workflows, provides visibility, and scales globally.”
Brex is the only platform that has built their own financial infrastructure. There is no middleware issuer-processor in between us and our bank + network partners. This is a key difference between them and other players, who use Stripe Issuing, or Marqeta, or Adyen Issuing between themselves and their customers.
Owning their own rails gives Brex the freedom to add new features, add new countries and create a much more delightful customer experience. There is no middleware so things like global coverage, better network level data (what’s called L2+L3 data) and real time controls are much better.
Example: When a customer wants a new country turned on – this happened the other month – Estonia, they just did it, instantly.
They’re not tied to the roadmaps of other companies which enables them to move and innovate faster than anyone else.
Super-Duper Intelligent AI Agents & Integrations
Committed to the AI future, Brex is actively building, embedding, & partnering to harness its full potential. Art described Brex’s AI strategy as structured around three distinct pillars:
Corporate AI – tools the company buys for internal productivity.
Operational AI – custom-built internal systems that automate workflows across customer success, compliance, & risk.
Product AI – embedded AI features that directly improve customer experience & financial controls within Brex’s platform.
Automating more than 169,000 hours monthly in financial processes, Brex has six AI agents, including: Accounting, Expense, Payment, Banking, Compliance, & Fraud detection.
Brex’s Accounting Agent’s recommendations achieved an 85% acceptance rate, dramatically reducing manual errors and operational overhead.
Expense Agent automates compliance and policy adherence, significantly cutting approval times.
Payment Agent enables faster reconciliation and improved cash flow management.
FYI Brex doesn’t just see AI as a product feature.. but as a long-term margin enhancer & growth accelerant. Estimated cost savings from AI-driven efficiencies exceed industry benchmarks, significantly enhancing Brex’s value proposition & business model profile (possibly suitable for public markets..).
Spend smarter. Move faster.
Brex offers founders the financial stack that scales with you - a business account, card, bill pay, and travel - all in one place.
As a Sourcery subscriber you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s). Plus, white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, and access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → brex.com/sourcery
From Competitors to Partners: Brex for Zip
A cornerstone of that strategy: Brex for Zip, a joint offering launched in 2025 that unifies procurement, cards, and ERP integration.
Cards issued instantly from within Zip at the request stage
Auto-enforced controls tied to pre-approvals
Instant sync to ERPs (e.g., NetSuite, Sage Intacct)
Spend in 30+ currencies with centralized visibility
Powered by Brex’s proprietary global infrastructure (not a third party)
Anthropic, Carta, & Coinbase are joint customers of Brex for Zip
“Brex is the connective payment tissue. We want to be in all the best-in-class systems our customers use.”
The same modular thesis powers other strategic partnerships, including Navan (travel), Coupa (enterprise procurement), and Warp (HR/payroll).
“BD is like the VC arm of a company. We want to make bets, some partners will already be winning, others we’ll grow with. Who’s the Shopify to our Stripe?”
Pictured: Molly with Warp Founder & CEO, Ayush Sharma
Go BIG.
Brex is building with the maturity of a public company, the speed of a startup, and the ambition of a category owner. The company’s platform is deeply embedded across finance functions at large global leaders like Anthropic, Scale AI, Neuralink, DoorDash, & Arm, as well as fast growing startups like Mercor & Cluely.
“We’re not just building Brex. We’re building modern finance.”
Art Levy
In his role as Chief Business Officer at Brex, Art Levy oversees business development, M&A, partnerships, and investor relations. Estimated as “employee #50 or something,” what drew Art there very early on was a nudge from close friend Michael Tannenbaum, who was the first employee/CFO (now CEO of Figure).
Since joining the company in 2018, shortly after its Series B, he’s played a pivotal role in helping scale Brex from a breakout corporate card startup to a multi-product financial platform trusted by over 200 public companies. With a background in venture capital and early-stage startups like Teespring, Levy brings a sharp eye for partnerships and strategic growth, helping position Brex for its long-term vision as an autonomous finance platform for CFOs.
Pictured: Art Levy, The Elite Global Corporate Card
Hot Kalshi Predictions:
Resources:
SPEED MEETS CONTROL: Brex Summer Release
Upgrades to Brex AI, purchasing, policies, and roles to help you move faster while staying in control.
The Future of Finance is Modular | Why Best-of-Breed Partnerships are Winning, and What It Means for Finance Teams
Stats: Golden Age of M&A:
Today’s Sourcery is brought to you by Brex.
Brex is the modern finance stack built for speed—corporate cards, expense management, bill pay, travel, & banking, all in one sleek platform.
Helping companies like Anysphere (Cursor) build the future of AI w/ Brex as their mission control; Superhuman move 2x as fast; BambooHR manage spend across 1,500+ employees; EZ Bombs generate $80K in yield from viral growth — all w/ Brex.
As a Sourcery subscriber you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → brex.com/sourcery
Great read, Molly! One thing is the winners here are the ones who treat customer success as a core part of their integration planning. Most companies lose a large part of their acquired customer base in year one bcause they focus heavy on tech integration BUT forget about growing and continuing the relationship.