‘Uniquely Australian’ BigCommerce climbs nearly 300% on Nasdaq debut

Sydney-born e-commerce group BigCommerce has pulled off one of the biggest tech IPOs of the year as its biggest problem morphs into a massive opportunity.

BigCommerce CEO Brent Bellm and CFO Robert Alvarez. Picture: Supplied.

Sydney-born e-commerce provider BigCommerce has pulled off one of the biggest tech IPOs of the year, with its share price up by as much as 300 per cent in a blockbuster first day on New York’s NASDAQ.

BigCommerce was halted twice for volatility on it first day trading, after the IPO was priced at $US24 per share, up from its initial range of $US18 to $US20. It climbed as high as $US93.99 – up 292 per cent – before closing the day at $US72.27, valuing the company at around $US5bn ($7bn).

Describing BigCommerce an Australian success story, chief executive Brent Bellm told The Australian that the company’s meteoric rise on the NASDAQ could be traced back to its humble beginnings in Sydney 11 years ago.

BigCommerce is now based in Austin, Texas but originated in Sydney and still has a significant staff and customers presence in Australia.

“I hope the whole continent of Australia recognises this for the Australian success story it is,” Mr Bellm told The Australian.

“The predecessor to BigCommerce was Eddie [Machaalani] and Mitch [Harper]‘s Interspire business that they started together in Sydney in 2003. It was an email marketing platform with a downloadable shopping card, and it was very successful around the world.

Interspire founders Mitch Harper (left) and Eddie Machaalani Picture: Supplied

“They had the conviction and the courage to go all-in on their vision, and within a year they had 10,000 customers around the world. For better or worse, more than 80 per cent of those were in the United States, so to fuel their growth they needed to move their headquarters to the US. But the bulk of the team was still in Sydney for a long time.

“I hope folks recognise Eddie and Mitch for the great Australian entrepreneurs they are.”

The executive added that it “felt marvellous” to see the share price perform so strongly in its opening hours.

“It‘s extremely emotional, because people want to have success in life and this is one very tangible, and public, way to see 11 years of hard work by us and the partners recognised,” he said.

“It means now going forward there‘s more of a spotlight on us, and we want every business for whom we might be the best fit for e-commerce to consider us. It’s going to help us do that, it’s going to make everything we do that much more successful, we hope, going forward.”

“The funny thing is at first it was a giant problem, and then it became a giant asset.”

The company has around 60,000 clients, including Sony and Ben and Jerry’s, and in its IPO filing said its platform “simplifies the creation of beautiful, engaging online stores by delivering a unique combination of ease-of-use, enterprise functionality, and flexibility.”

BigCommerce was originally slated to list in April, confidentially filing its paperwork with the SEC in early January. Then the pandemic hit, throwing the company’s plans into chaos, along with the rest of the global economy.

“The funny thing is at first it was a giant problem, and then it became a giant asset. We started the IPO process at the end of last year, we confidentially filed with the SEC in early January, and we thought we were on track for an April IPO. When the pandemic was declared we dropped everything and focused on the success of our merchant sites, and transitioned to working from home.”

Mr Bellm added that the pandemic had meant BigCommerce’s clients overall had experienced quadruple growth, as the entire global economy shifted towards e-commerce.

“We realised that the story of BigCommerce is even more compelling,” he said. “Everyone realises that e-commerce, more than ever, is a core part of how humans are dealing with the challenges we‘re facing right now in the physical world. And what we do is really essential to helping all of us manage this.”

Mr Bellm said that rather than a big blowout party, BigCommerce’s leadership team was planning something a bit more low-key to celebrate the IPO.

“We’ve got some great Texas barbecue, I’ve got some nice bottles of wine to open, and all of us are just going to celebrate together as a team here at my house.”