PitchBook: VC exits through public listings, acquisitions, and buyouts reached $67.7B in Q2 2025, up from $38.5B a year ago and the strongest showing since 2021
Figma listing plans might raise hopes of a rise in IPO activity — When design software company Figma revealed its plans … LinkedIn: Roland Dennert LinkedIn: Roland Dennert : Some timid signs that technology exit markets are unfreezing: — 👉 Q2 exits by venture-backed firms reached $67.7bn up from $38.5bn last year …
Context & Ripple Effects
The exit market had been a constraint on venture activity: PitchBook’s 2024 US funding data tied weaker deal activity to a shortage of VC exits, following the sharp post-2021 slowdown in listings and sales.
Q2’s rebound is therefore meaningful as a reopening signal, not merely a higher quarterly total. Figma’s stated listing plans put the IPO channel at the center of whether the improvement broadens beyond isolated transactions.
First-order effects
- Venture investors, founders, and employee shareholders have a stronger route to liquidity as public listings, acquisitions, and buyouts produced $67.7B of exits in Q2, versus $38.5B a year earlier.
- Figma’s prospective listing becomes a closely watched test of public-market appetite for venture-backed technology companies.
Second-order effects
- More realizations can give VC firms capital and evidence to support follow-on investments, easing the exit bottleneck that had constrained new deal activity.
- Startups weighing fundraising versus a sale gain a more credible set of alternatives; prospective acquirers and IPO candidates will be judged against a more active exit market.
Third-order effects
- If the recovery persists across IPOs, M&A, and buyouts, venture investing could move away from the prolonged holding period created after the earlier collapse in IPO and exit activity.
- The durability of the shift depends on whether public listings such as Figma’s can establish repeatable demand; a rebound concentrated in a small number of large exits would not fully restore broad exit-market liquidity.
The trend: Venture capital is moving from an exit-constrained period toward a selective reopening of IPO, acquisition, and buyout pathways.