88 companies went public in 2018 with venture capital backing. Excluding Spotify's (NYSE:SPOT) direct listing, the group raised $15 billion in the IPO market. Venture exits accounted for 46% of 2018's total, and VC deal count and proceeds reached a 4-year high. The pickup in activity was driven by biotechs and Chinese tech, so naturally healthcare VCs like Atlas, Flagship, and OrbiMed were active, along with VCs with a strong presence in China (e.g. Sequoia). By sector, venture exits came from 57 healthcare IPOs, 27 technology IPOs, 3 consumer discretionary IPOs (all Chinese), and 1 industrials IPO.
