Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC)-backed exits have surged in the past two years, doubling to $31.8 bn in 2018, driven by large strategic sales and secondary exits. The year 2018 saw 259 exits, or 23% more than the 211 in 2017, on the back of deals in consumer technology, IT and IT-enabled services. Public markets were the most preferred mode of exit, over strategic sales, secondary sales and buybacks.