Photo via Shutterstock.
Photo via Shutterstock.

IBM and Microsoft were the most active tech acquirers, IPO activity is down, and unicorn exits are now exceeding unicorn births.

Those are some of the data points from CB Insights’ Global Tech Exits Report for the first half of 2016.

The report highlights how for the first time in the past six quarters, there were more venture capital-backed billion-dollar exits than new private VC-backed companies valued at $1 billion (also known as “unicorns”). There were five billion-dollar exits compared to four new “unicorns” in the Q2. That’s down from 22 “unicorns” that appeared in the year-ago quarter.

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Charts via CBInsights.

There were more than 1,590 exits through the first half of this year, down 17 percent compared to the first half of 2015.

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For the U.S. specifically, there were 429 M&A exits and four IPOs in Q2, down from 518 M&A exits and 16 IPOs in the year-ago quarter. Top exits included companies like NantHealth ($1.7 billion IPO), Jasper ($1.4 billion M&A), and Twilio ($1.2 billion IPO).

Top U.S. states for tech exits in the first half of 2016 were California, New York, and Texas.

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CB Insights noted that there were 16 IPOs in Q2 (eight of which were VC-backed tech companies), up 45 percent from the year-ago quarter. But IPOs are still down 41 percent for the first half of 2016 compared to the first half of 2015.

IBM and Microsoft were the most active acquirers in the first half of 2016. IBM swooped up companies like Ustream, Resilient, and Optevia; Microsoft bought Xamarin, Wand Labs, and SwiftKey, among others.

SV Angel has had the most tech exits this year for VC firms, with Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners behind. For best-performing corporate VC firms, Intel Capital leads the way this year so far with the most exits, followed by Google Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.

Check out the full report here.

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