Nearly 100 tech companies went public in 2016, despite the number of overall exits going down, according to CB Insights.
The company’s 2016 Global Tech Exits Report, released Tuesday, found that more tech companies around the globe filed for initial public offerings in 2016 than in 2015, while total number of exits dropped 4 percent.
In the United States alone, more than 1,600 technology companies exited in 2016. The UK, India, Canada and Germany rounded out the top five. California and New York led the charge in the U.S., while Massachusetts and Texas tied for third with more than 90 exits. Washington state ranked ninth with 53 exits; only three were from IPOs.
Though global IPOs numbers were up, CB Insights found that mergers and acquisition numbers fell for the year. More than 3,200 companies saw M&A exits, with Google leading the charge as the top acquirer for the year.
“Internet” companies led the charge on exits, accounting for 55 percent in the United States, but other industries are gaining ground. In the fourth quarter of 2016, “computer hardware” and “software” accounted for a combined 28 percent of all exits globally, while internet fell to less than half. “Mobile” companies made up approximately 20 percent of the global exit number.
Internet still held the top spots though, with e-commerce site Jet.com, online subscription service Dollar Shave Club and travel company Skyscanner included in the 18 tech companies that exited for $1 billion or more last year. “Unicorn births,” or the number of new VC-backed tech companies valued at $1 billion, drew even with VC-backed tech exits in Q3.
Venture capital-backed companies saw a similar rise in mobile and electronics, though internet companies still accounted for more than half of their exits in the fourth quarter. Of VC-backed tech exits, 54 were advertising and marketing companies.
SV Angel and Intel Capital invested in the most tech companies that exited last year, and Intel also held the No. 1 spot as a CVC investor. American companies Jet.com and Nutanix accounted for two of the top five VC-backed tech companies that exited valued at more than $1.7 billion, and the top spot was held by China’s Ucar Group.
The second half of 2016 was more promising than the first half for tech exits, according to the CB Insights, which also predicts IPOs to rise in 2017.
