VC ownership at exit is ~50%

When tech companies exit by going public, how much of the company is owned by venture investors at that point? We looked at 178 tech IPO’s to find out. The data is below.

Our big take-aways are below.

Venture owns ~50%. Venture and other major investors own on median 54% and on average 51% of the businesses that exit by going public.

Some VC have the Midas Touch. A number of VC pop up repeatedly in different deals. For instance, Bessemer, Sequoia, Benchmark, Andreesen, Greylock, DST, and Accel are each in multiple deals. There is a reason funds like these can raise billions of dollars, and it’s because of the success of the entrepreneurs they invest in.

Strategics don’t matter. Of the 131 tech companies that have gone public, only 30 had a strategic investor. That’s only 17% or less than 1 in 5.

Founders owned 15%. Although we don’t show the data above (that’s a different blog coming tomorrow), founders owned on median 15% and on average 20%.

Visit us at blossomstreetventures.com and email us directly at sammy@blossomstreetventures.com. All founders welcome! We invest in companies with run rate revenue of $2mm to $30mm, with year over year growth of 20% to 50%+ depending on revenue. We lead or follow in growth rounds and special situations like inside rounds, small rounds, rushed rounds, corralling investors with our term sheet, bridges, inbetweeners, cap table clean up, and founder secondary. We can commit in 3 weeks and our check is $1mm to $2mm. Email us!