The reign of the unicorn IPO has commenced.

Investors gripe that highly valued tech companies are eschewing the public markets and opting to remain private for longer. But in 2018, to little fanfare, 38 tech and internet companies valued at $1 billion or more at the time of their IPO listed shares in the U.S., the most to do so since the height of the dot-com boom in 2000, according to Dealogic.

That is expected to rise next year, according to bankers and fund managers who follow the IPO market. In 2019 some of the hottest names among the tech unicorns, including Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc. are considering IPOs.

Also widely expected: many lesser-known software companies that tout private valuations between $1 billion and $5 billion. These less commercially recognizable companies have made up many of the 2018 unicorns, and for that reason haven’t gotten as much attention as higher-profile firms, according to some analysts.

“These are stories people don’t know well because they’re not an app on your phone,” said David Ethridge, U.S. IPO services leader at PwC. “But there’s a very steady pace, and there’s been a strong IPO market that’s supported this.”