Tech consulting firm Thoughtworks Holding Inc. enjoyed a strong debut on the markets today as its stock jumped 40% after it raised more than $773 million in its initial public offering.

The company’s stock opened at $26 and closed the day at $29.39 on the Nasdaq Exchange, bringing its market value to almost $9 billion. Thoughtworks, which is backed by Siemens AG and funds advised by Apax Partners, sold almost 37 million shares for $21 each, after marketing them for $18 to $20.

Investors are betting big on Thoughtworks, which has more than 9,000 employees in 17 countries, amid strong enterprise demand for the engineering and consulting services it provides. The company’s mission is to help enterprises digitize their business operations, and it counts the likes of German carmaker Daimler AG, Kroger Co., PayPal Holdings Inc. and Telus Corp. among its customers.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Thoughtworks Chief Executive Guo Xiao said he sees tremendous growth potential amid the digital transformation of businesses that has been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. He believes enterprises will be in a “constant state of change” for the next 10 to 20 years and said his company isn’t just following trends, but helping to establish them.

“Every business will become a modern digital business,” he said. “It will be embedded. It will be part of the DNA.”

Thoughtworks Chief Financial Officer Erin Cummins told Reuters the company is now hiring and has set continued expansion of its business as a top priority.

The company has already been growing fast, with sales of $260.4 million in the three months ending June up 40.3% from a year ago, filings show.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. acted as the lead underwriters for the offering. Thoughtworks shares are trading under the symbol TWKS.

Photo: Thoughtworks/Twitter