By
Steve Muchoki
April 25th, 2024
With accelerated growth during Q1 2020, BigCommerce is looking to tap into the opportunity to raise public funds. The company’s improving operational health suggests that the timing is good for its IPO.
The Texas-based e-commerce giant and Shopify competitor – BigCommerce – has decided to file for an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The company has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The total shares offered and the price range of the offering haven’t been made public so far. Also, BigCommerce has applied to list its Series 1 common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market.
BigCommerce is one of the most popular and leading SaaS commerce platforms that allows merchants to build and grow their businesses. The platform also offers complete flexibility and easy-to-use enterprise functionality.
For the proposed IPO, banking giants like Barclays and Morgan Stanley will act as lead book-running managers. Moreover, the proposed offering will only happen through the means of the prospectus. After a modest growth last year in 2019, BigCommerce saw its revenue jumping considerably during the Q1 2020.
During 2019, BigCommerce clocked revenue of $112.1 million registering 22% over its previous year of 2018. During Q1 2020, BigCommerce’s revenue 30% against the Q1 2019 results.
Has COVID-19 Helped BigCommerce with Faster Growth and Pushed It to IPO?
During the current pandemic situation, we have seen many businesses shifting their base online. As a result technology and software companies have seen a major surge in their business.
BigCommerce’s revenue growth remains accelerated during this current COVID-19 crisis. It looks like BigCommerce doesn’t want to leave a loose end to the positive market sentiment and tap the opportunity of raising public funds during this accelerated market growth.
The good thing is that along with revenue growth, BigCommerce has progressed in terms of revenue quality. During the Q1 2020, BigCommerce’s gross margins stood at 77.5%, which shows a solid SaaS result. During the Q1 2019, the company’s gross margins stood at 76.8%.
Moreover, in Q1 2020, the company has also reduced its net GAAP loss to under $4 million. This net GAAP loss stood at $109.5 million during the same period last year. This also shows that the company’s operational health is improving.
BigCommerce’s long-term net debt currently at $69 million is very manageable, if not good. With data currently in favor of BigCommerce, it is a good decision to go public and pose a good competition in the market to the giants like Shopify.
Other IPO news can be found here.