Vivek Ramaswamy-backed Strive to acquire Semler Scientific in $1.34B stock deal, expanding Bitcoin holdings

Strive is doubling down on its bet that bitcoin belongs on corporate balance sheets. On Monday, the crypto firm backed by Vivek Ramaswamy said it will acquire Semler Scientific in an all-stock deal valued at about $1.34 billion, a move that will significantly expand its cryptocurrency holdings.

Under the agreement, Semler shareholders will receive 21.04 Class A shares of Strive for each Semler share, valuing Semler at $90.52 per share—a premium of more than 210% over its Friday close. The announcement sent Semler’s stock up 8.3% in early trading, while Strive shares fell 8%, Reuters reported.

The deal comes just months after Strive merged with Asset Entities to gain a Nasdaq listing and build out its strategy of buying and holding bitcoin. Strive said it will purchase 5,816 bitcoin for $675 million as part of the transaction, bringing the combined company’s total holdings to more than 10,900 bitcoin. Future purchases will be financed using a “preferred equity only” model.

Semler isn’t just a bitcoin play. The company operates a healthcare business that provides a point-of-care test to measure arterial blood flow in the extremities. But its crypto holdings have increasingly defined how investors see its value—an approach popularized by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, which began shifting its balance sheet into bitcoin in 2020.

Ramaswamy, who co-founded Strive in 2022, has long been a vocal supporter of bitcoin. Before that, he launched drugmaker Roivant Sciences in 2014 and left its board in early 2023 to run for president. His push into corporate bitcoin strategies reflects a growing interest among companies seeking exposure to crypto assets as regulatory clarity improves and traditional finance warms to the sector. Bitcoin itself is up more than 20% this year, outpacing the S&P 500’s 13% rise.

Cantor Fitzgerald advised Strive on the acquisition, while LionTree Advisors worked with Semler.