Three companies are exiting the Prime Unicorn Index in the Q4 2026 reconstitution after exceeding 150 public trading days: EquipmentShare.com, Ethos Technologies, and Generate Biomedicines.
While their time in the Index is ending, their histories offer a useful look at what can happen before and after a private company reaches the public markets. In each case, years of financing and price discovery occurred before the IPO, showing how much of a company’s growth story can unfold before it reaches the public markets.
EquipmentShare: A Decade of Private-Market Expansion
Founded in 2015, EquipmentShare built a technology-enabled equipment rental platform combining a national rental fleet with its proprietary T3 operating system.
EquipmentShare’s funding history illustrates how significantly the company scaled before going public. EquipmentShare was valued at approximately $384 million in 2018, increased to $2.8 billion by its 2021 Series D, and reached approximately $4.1 billion following its 2023 Series E extension.
Prime Unicorn Index price data tells a similar story. EquipmentShare’s first price in the PUI dataset was approximately $11.21 per share in July 2021. The company ultimately priced its January 2026 IPO at $24.50 per share, representing an increase of approximately 119% from that initial PUI price. EquipmentShare began trading on Nasdaq under EQPT on January 23.
Public trading has been more volatile. By October 20, PUI data showed shares at $15.60, down approximately 36% from the IPO price, but still about 39% above the 2021 price captured in the PUI series.
Ethos: Significant Growth on Both Sides of the IPO
Ethos Technologies used technology to simplify the life insurance purchasing process and experienced substantial valuation growth while private.
Funding data shows its valuation increasing from approximately $450 million in its 2019 Series C to $2.0 billion in May 2021, followed by a $2.7 billion valuation later that year.
On a split-adjusted basis, PUI began tracking Ethos at approximately $6.52 per share in July 2021. Ethos priced its January 2026 IPO at $19 per share, nearly 192% above that initial PUI price. Ethos began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker LIFE on January 29, 2026, with its IPO closing the following day.
Unlike EquipmentShare, Ethos has continued appreciating in the public market. By October 20, its share price had reached $41.07, approximately 116% above its IPO price and 530% above its 2021 PUI-tracked price.
Generate Biomedicines: Private Growth Followed by Public Volatility
Generate Biomedicines, a clinical-stage biotechnology company applying generative AI to drug development, also built substantial scale before reaching Nasdaq.
Funding data shows Generate raising $370 million at a $1.4 billion valuation in 2021, followed by a $273 million Series C at approximately $1.7 billion in 2023.
PUI began tracking Generate at $11.85 per share in July 2023. The company priced its February 2026 IPO at $16, roughly 35% above that initial PUI price, raising $400 million before beginning trading under GENB on February 27.
By October 20, shares stood at $12.90, about 19% below the IPO price, but approximately 9% above the first PUI-tracked price.
Why the Private Years Matter
These companies have followed very different paths since going public. That divergence is part of the point.
An IPO is often treated as the beginning of a company’s investable story, but significant financing, valuation growth, and price discovery may already have occurred years earlier. EquipmentShare, Ethos, and Generate each demonstrate how much of a company’s development can take place before its shares ever begin trading publicly.
Tracking that private-market period can provide a more complete view of company growth and help illuminate value creation that traditional public-market benchmarks only begin capturing after the IPO.
Want more data on unicorn companies, including funding and valuation history, secondary transactions, and more? Email Contact@PrimeUnicornIndex.com or call 646-290-9254.