In recent years, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by venture capital (VC)-backed companies have surged in popularity. On the one hand, many VC-backed firms pursue M&As as a growth strategy by acquiring other companies. Existing research mainly focuses on the likelihood of these acquisitions and their performance, often overlooking how VC investors assist their portfolio companies in target selection. Our first study aims at filling this void in the literature by investigating how targets chosen by VC-backed companies differ from their non-VC-backed peers. On the other hand, VC-backed companies often are the target of M&A strategies of corporate buyers, enabling the VC firm to exit and liquidate its investment to realize a financial return. Despite extensive research on exit strategies, the timing of such exits—when founders and investors decide to stop scaling the company themselves and hence sell the firm—has been neglected. Our second study, therefore, will explore the shareholder and environmental factors that influence VC-backed companies' decisions to scale further or opt for a trade sale. Finally, while the effects of M&A exits at the firm level have been well-documented, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the strategic and economic effects of VC-backed M&As at the country and industry levels. Thus, our third study will evaluate the wider effects of M&A exits by VC-backed firms on the VC investment landscape and fundraising dynamics within the ecosystem.