Grocery-delivery company Instacart priced its IPO on the Nasdaq at $30 a share, valuing it near $10 billion — a fraction of the $39 billion valuation it carried at the 2021 peak. Days earlier, marketing-automation firm Klaviyo had also priced, giving the market a cluster of tests within a single week.

The valuations told the story of the cycle. Instacart had raised private capital at nosebleed multiples during the pandemic, and its public debut represented a roughly 75% haircut from that high — a repricing employees and late investors absorbed directly.

Both companies shared a trait the 2021 cohort often lacked: a credible path to profitability. That, more than growth, was what the reopened market was willing to pay for, setting the tone for exits to come.