(Bloomberg) BigCommerce Inc., which designs and develops software to make online storefronts, is planning a U.S. initial public offering this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Austin, Texas-based company is working with Morgan Stanley on the offering, which could value it at roughly $1 billion, the people said. BigCommerce has filed confidentially for the listing and its financials could become public soon, they added.

The company’s plans aren’t final and could still change, the people said.

Ecommerce has emerged as one of the winners in the coronavirus pandemic. Shares of Shopify Inc., an industry leader and larger rival to BigCommerce, are trading at a record high and have more than doubled since mid-March, giving it a market value of $109 billion. Demandware Inc., another competitor, was acquired by Salesforce.com Inc. in 2016 for $2.8 billion. Salesforce acquired B2B software firm CloudCraze in 2018, providing Salesforce a mix of retail and B2B ecommerce technology in its Commerce Cloud software suite.

A representative for BigCommerce couldn’t be reached for comment. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Founded in 2009, BigCommerce recorded over $25 billion in merchant sales on its platform. It has raised more than $200 million to date, including $64 million from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., General Catalyst and GGV Capital in 2018, according to a statement at the time.

BigCommerce’s software allows companies to manage their online sales through marketplaces like Amazon.com Inc. and social media platforms such as Instagram shopping. Its customers are mainly in fashion, health and beauty, food and beverage, manufacturing and automotive, its website shows. BigCommerce, which launched a B2B ecommerce platform last year, is among a group of 12 B2B ecommerce software companies recently reviewed by Forrester Research Inc. in the report, “The Forrester Wave: B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2020.”

BigCommerce’s B2B clients include AtlantaLightBulbs.com, Berlin Packaging and Avery Dennison. BigCommerce has also been participating in a program with Alibaba.com as one of several vendors making special offers to B2B companies.

Software companies that went public in the U.S. this past year have doubled in value on a weighted-average basis, the second best-performing sector after cyber security listings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 Index edged up 6.7% during the same period.

Companies are emboldened by examples like DataDog Inc., which went public last fall and has seen its shares triple. Shares in ZoomInfo Technologies Inc., the business-intelligence platform, have been trading well above its IPO price. Others are in the pipeline such as nCino Inc., a cloud software firm that filed to go public on Monday.

The staff of Digital Commerce 360 | B2B News contributed to this report.

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