[littlestymaar]

How? A VC-backed company must have an exit path for its investors at some point, and this exit is either:

- sell the company to a bigger player, reinforcing their dominant position (often close to monopolistic in tech).

- go to IPO, keeping the company independence and fighting power concentration.

[kgwgk]

There is a third option. (According to some LLM that will remain unnamed Vungle, Wrike, and Acquia are textbook cases of direct VC‑backed startups being bought out by private equity without an IPO or corporate acquisition. Not verified.)

[littlestymaar]

That's true, but PE is negligible in tech. And if all you can rely on for exit is private equity then you'll end up with a tech scene as dynamic as the European one…