Venture-backed startups proved their worth in 2019 by following through on successful exit strategies, despite a slowdown in activity near the end of the year. The value of all exits for venture-backed companies, which includes IPOs, buyouts and acquisitions, hit a record $256.4 billion across 882 deals, according to the 4Q 2019 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. That value was nearly double the $130.2 billion in 2018, which was itself a record at the time.