Former Airbnb product lead behind Lenny's Newsletter and Lenny's Podcast
Lenny's Newsletter, Lenny's Podcast, Lenny's Jobs +1$1M+/yr
💼 15 makers · 9 products
Best Acquirers & Indie Investors in 2026
Makers who buy, grow and fund small internet businesses. This list features 15 indie makers in this space, led by Lenny Rachitsky, Tyler Tringas and Karl Hughes, ranked by profile depth, audience and reported revenue.
Top acquirers & indie investors
15 makers, ranked.
Coined micro-SaaS, sold Storemapper, then founded Calm Company Fund for bootstrappers
Storemapper, Calm Company Fund (formerly Earnest Capital), BK UP~$40K MRR
Former CTO who built Draft.dev to $2.5M and now acquires podcast agencies
Draft.dev, The Podcast Consultant, Rise25$2.5M/yr
CEO of Late Checkout, host of The Startup Ideas Podcast, creator of Ideabrowser
Late Checkout, Ideabrowser, The Vibe Marketer +3
Founder of Creator Science, teaching creators to build businesses through experiments
Creator Science, The Lab, CreatorHQ +1
Domain investor who turns premium .com names into businesses — and sells onions online
VidaliaOnions.com, Onions.com, RanchWork.com +3
Co-founder of Tiny and MetaLab, buying and holding wonderful internet businesses
Tiny, MetaLab, Dribbble +1
Drip founder, MicroConf and TinySeed co-founder, host of Startups for the Rest of Us
TinySeed, MicroConf, Drip
Co-founder of ScrapingBee, bootstrapped to $5M ARR and sold to Oxylabs
ScrapingBee, PricingBot~$5M ARR
Founder of Once, a disposable-camera event app, and owner of Xnapper
Once, Xnapper$35K/mo
Co-founder of ScrapingBee and author of The Java Web Scraping Handbook
ScrapingBee$5M+ ARR
Non-technical builder who sold Makerpad to Zapier and now runs Ben's Bites
Makerpad, Ben's Bites
Indie iOS developer since 2011 who has shipped 90+ apps and sold Teleprompter Pro
Teleprompter Pro, Voice Teleprompter, Scrolling Credits Maker Pro +1
Indie maker from Kolkata building IndieExit, a no-commission micro-startup marketplace
IndieExit
Digital Business Investor 🤖 Do you have a digital business for sale or are seeking an investment opportunity?
Products by acquirers & indie investors
9 products in this category.
levels.vc
levels.vc
His personal investing vehicle for backing other startups.
by Pieter Levels
Calm Company Fund (formerly Earnest Capital)
calmfund.com
Early-stage fund for bootstrapped, profitable 'calm companies' using the Shared Earnings Agreement; paused new investments in 2024.
by Tyler Tringas
Indie Fund
en.wikipedia.org
Funding organization for independent games, co-founded with other indie developers.
by Jonathan Blow
Tiny
tiny.com
Holding company that buys profitable internet and consumer businesses and holds them long term.
by Andrew Wilkinson
TinySeed
tinyseed.com
Remote accelerator and fund built for bootstrapped and capital-efficient B2B SaaS founders.
by Rob Walling
Poncle Presents
poncle.games
Indie publishing label launched by poncle to back other small developers; paused in 2026.
by Luca Galante
CIYA
ciya.so
Holding company that builds software businesses and backs founders.
by Siyabend Özdemir
Finds early-stage founders by tracking the best VCs.
by Jared Rhizor
IndieExit
indieexit.com
Marketplace for buying and selling micro startups with free listings and no commission.
by Avoy Maji
Related categories
✍️ Creators & Writers🫂 Community Builders☁️ SaaS Founders🎓 Educators & Course Creators🛠️ Developer Tools📦 Productized Services🤖 AI Builders📱 Mobile App Makers🛍️ E-commerce💻 Mac & Desktop App Makers
Top countries for acquirers & indie investors
Acquirers & Indie Investors FAQ
Who are the most popular acquirers & indie investors?
The best-known acquirers & indie investors on IndieMakerList are Lenny Rachitsky, Tyler Tringas, Karl Hughes, Greg Isenberg and Jay Clouse. In total 15 makers are listed in this category.
What products do acquirers & indie investors build?
Notable products include levels.vc by Pieter Levels, Calm Company Fund (formerly Earnest Capital) by Tyler Tringas, Indie Fund by Jonathan Blow, Tiny by Andrew Wilkinson and TinySeed by Rob Walling. 9 products are listed in this category.
How much do acquirers & indie investors earn?
Publicly reported revenue varies widely. Examples: Lenny Rachitsky ($1M+/yr (newsletter and podcast, each over $500K)), Tyler Tringas (~$40K MRR (Storemapper at sale)), Karl Hughes ($2.5M/yr (Draft.dev, 2022)) and Pierre de Wulf (~$5M ARR (at exit)). Figures are self-reported and sourced from public posts.
Where are acquirers & indie investors based?
The most common countries in this category are United States (7), France (2) and United Kingdom (2).
How do I get listed as one of the acquirers & indie investors?
Submit your profile via the Submit page. Listings are free and reviewed before publishing.
Know one of the best acquirers & indie investors we're missing? Submit a maker to IndieMakerList →