The United States birthed the ridesharing industry and by extension the global on-demand economy. Companies like Uber and Lyft enjoy some of the highest valuations among any unicorn. The companies’ pending IPOs will likely be some of the biggest stock offerings Wall Street has ever seen.

In 2016, we declared the emergence of late stage, VC-backed companies, powered by “private IPOs,” mega rounds of $100 million or more, as a new asset class. At the time, however, critics warned of a bubble, that valuations were too high. Private market trends over the past 24 months confirm that private IPOs are not only the new norm but may be replacing traditional public IPOs.