In the world of venture capital, an “exit” is a term you’ll come across quite often. Simply put, an exit strategy is the plan for a venture capitalist (VC) to get their initial investment back (plus hopefully a hefty profit) from a startup or business they’ve invested in. This usually happens when the company is sold to another business (trade sale), or when it goes public (Initial Public Offering or IPO), both events enabling the VC to sell their shares. In some unfortunate cases, it could also happen when the startup goes bankrupt, which is obviously not the ideal scenario for any VC. In Ireland, venture capital plays a critical role in the growth of innovative companies. Many Irish startups rely on VC funding to scale their operations and boost their growth. And just like any other VC market, exits are an important part of the Irish VC landscape as well. Historically, trade sales have been the most common exit strategy in the Irish VC market. These are often made to larger international companies looking to acquire smaller innovative startups to expand their own operations or tap into new technologies or market segments. IPOs, while less common, are another form of exit. However, going public requires a company to be of a substantial size and demonstrate consistent profitability, making this option less viable for many startups. The goal for VCs (whether in Ireland or elsewhere) is to exit their investment within around 5-10 years with significant profit. However, it’s important to note that not all investments end up being successful and sometimes VCs do lose their money – that’s the risk they take in this high-stakes game.