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Early Exits: Nearly Half Of Tech Startups Exit At The Early-Stage

  • March 10, 2016
  • March 10, 2016
When looking at the last round raised before exit, the data shows one-fourth of exited tech companies don't go beyond the seed stage.

Most VC-backed tech companies are exiting before reaching the Series C stage of their lifecycle. And, as illustrated in our 2015 Global Tech Exits Report, nearly half or 48% of VC-backed tech companies exit at the seed or Series A stage

We used CB Insights data and analytics to dig into this data further.

Global Tech Exits: IPOs and M&As for 2016

This 2016 global technology research briefing covers M&A and IPO trends over the past few years and highlights global venture-backed exit trends as well as the most active tech startup acquirers in 2016.

Last round raised before exit

Almost half or 48% of exits in VC-backed tech companies globally occurred after the companies raise seed or Series A (early-stage) financing. Meanwhile, 27% of tech exits happened after the companies raised Series B or C rounds (mid-stage). Only 13% of tech exits occurred after the companies raised Series D or Series E+ (late-stage) financings as their last round.

Interestingly, not all early-stage startups need to raise multiple rounds of funding to exit for a hefty valuation. For example, UK-based real estate tech company Purplebricks last raised a $11.7M Series A before going public at a $360M+ valuation, and cybersecurity startup Caspida raised $9.7M in Series A funding before being acquired for $190M.

Last-round.raised.before.exit_2015

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