Wishpond: Q4-2023 and Fiscal 2023 see revenue, EBITDA surge

Wishpond Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: WISH) (OTCQX: WPNDF) (the “Company” or “Wishpond“), a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions, announces it has filed its audited annual consolidated financial statements (the “Annual Financial Statements“) and management’s discussion and analysis (the “MD&A“) for its fiscal year ended December 31^st, 2023, representing the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023. Copies of the Annual Financial Statements and MD&A are available on the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Ali Tajskandar, Wishpond’s Founder and CEO commented, “2023 was a transformational year as Wishpond underwent the two most significant new product initiatives in the Company’s history – the first being the launch of Propel IQ, our next generation marketing platform, and the second being the development of a suite of AI powered marketing tools, including our flagship SalesCloser AI product. We believe the combination of Propel IQ and SalesCloser AI, positions Wishpond for the next phase of the Company’s growth. Propel IQ firmly places Wishpond in an elite league amongst very few digital marketing companies that boast an all-in-one bundled sales and marketing platform. Meanwhile, the recently launched SalesCloser AI product launch is garnering tremendous interest in the industry. We believe artificial intelligence is going to change the way that companies will do sales calls and product demos, and SalesCloser AI is leading the charge in this evolution.”

Ali Tajskandar further adds, “We are very excited about the Company’s outlook for 2024. In Q4-2023 we completed the transition of our sales team to selling our new Propel IQ product which we expect will be a key driver of revenue growth this year. Furthermore, we have seen Propel IQ has higher gross margins, lower customer churn⁽¹⁾ and greater customer lifetime value⁽¹⁾, compared to the Company’s other product offerings. We are expecting to improve profitability this year as we aim to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ in each quarter in 2024. We expect our cash position to improve in 2024 as revenue grows and the Company has now paid all of its earn-outs related to prior acquisitions. We feel confident in our ability to fund the Company’s future growth through cash flow from operations and the Company’s $6 million credit facility, with future financings only needed for executing on acquisition opportunities.”

Fiscal 2023 Annual Financial Highlights:

• Wishpond achieved record annual revenue of $23,088,138 during its fiscal year 2023, compared to $20,478,834 in its fiscal year 2022, an increase of 13%. Revenue growth was primarily driven by organic growth resulting from strong product demand for the Company’s new Propel IQ marketing platform.
• The revenue from a major customer reduced from $2,849,671 in 2022 to $1,537,380 in 2023. Without this decrease in revenue from email delivery services, revenue from the rest of the business would have increased by 22%.
• Wishpond achieved record gross profit of $15,190,124 in its fiscal year 2023 (2022: $13,556,839), representing a 12% increase from its fiscal year 2022, driven by an increase in overall revenue.
• Wishpond achieved a gross margin percentage of 66% during its fiscal year 2023 (2022: 66%), in line with the Company’s historical performance.
• During its fiscal year 2023, Wishpond achieved record Adjusted EBITDA of $758,807 (2022: $647,667), an increase of 17%. Adjusted EBITDA growth was positively impacted by the Company’s cost-cutting measures over the past year.

Fourth Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights:

• Wishpond achieved record quarterly revenue of $6,061,057 during Q4-2023, compared to $5,909,918 generated in the same period of 2022 (Q4-2022).
• Wishpond achieved gross profit of $3,994,574 in Q4-2023, a slight decline compared to the prior year (Q4-2022: $4,030,818) primarily due to some fixed costs related to revenue from a major customer.
• Wishpond achieved a gross margin percentage of 66% during Q4-2023 (Q4-2022: 68%), which is in line with historic averages.
• During Q4-2023, Wishpond achieved positive Adjusted EBITDA of $14,807 (Q4-2022: $687,335). The reduction of Adjusted EBITDA is attributed to a 24% year-over-year increase in Sales and Marketing expenses due to the expansion of the Company’s sales team in the fourth quarter and an increase in Propel IQ related sales and marketing activities. In addition, the Company had an 18% year-over-year increase in G&A expenses in the fourth quarter due to higher costs related to the development and imminent beta launch of SalesCloser AI.
• As at December 31, 2023, Wishpond had $1,424,585 in cash and had drawn down $994,658 from its credit facility (December 31, 2022: cash of $2,692,644 and no debt). The reduction in cash balances was caused in part by earnout payments for previously acquired businesses, investment in R&D for the development of AI marketing tools including SalesCloser AI, ramping up sales and marketing costs with the launch of Propel IQ and changes in working capital.

Fourth Quarter 2023 Business Highlights:

• On October 3, 2023, the Company announced the integration of Brax with Facebook, a strategic enhancement in the way that businesses manage their advertising campaigns on the world’s largest social media platform. This new integration paves the way for advertisers to harness the power of Brax’s advanced ad creation tools and robust rules engine, enhancing their return on investment while streamlining their ad management processes.
• On December 7, 2023, the Company announced it filed a non-provisional utility patent, entitled Virtual Artificial Intelligence (AI) Representative, to protect the underlying technologies of its upcoming SalesCloser AI platform that can perform automated demos, calls and presentations. The technology is a breakthrough in AI-powered presentation technology utilizing advanced large language models and deep learning techniques for voice synthesis. This innovative AI-based platform acts as a “Virtual AI Representative” and can engage in conversations and deliver presentations in real-time through various meeting applications, showcasing its versatility and efficiency.

Business Highlights Subsequent to December 31, 2023:

• On February 7, 2024, the Company announced the beta launch of its proprietary AI-powered sales platform, SalesCloser AI, a virtual AI agent that the Company anticipates will be able to deliver personalized, round-the-clock sales calls and product demos with minimal human intervention.
• On March 5, 2024, the Company provided an update on several key metrics for Propel IQ:
  • Since launch, the number of Propel IQ customers has increased to over 500 users.
  • Monthly Recurring Revenue (“MRR“)⁽¹⁾ from Propel IQ customers has increased approximately 10-fold over the past year.
  • The customer churn rate for Propel IQ is up to 40% lower compared to some of Wishpond’s other product solutions.
  • The customer lifetime value (“LTV“)⁽¹⁾ is over 20% higher than customers of other Wishpond solutions.
• On April 4, 2024, the Company announced the launch of SalesCloser AI, a next generation virtual sales agent that would be able to deliver personalized, round-the-clock sales calls and product demos in a similar manner to a live human sales agent. The platform can work 24×7 to engage leads, close deals, and service customers in ten different languages. SalesCloser AI can also be adapted for use across a diverse range of industries such as software/SaaS, professional services, financial services, education, travel & hospitality, insurance, and more.

Outlook:

Wishpond expects to achieve record revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in 2024, driven by increasing traction of the Company’s new Propel IQ bundled product, ramping up the size of its sales team and new sales from the recently launched SalesCloser AI virtual agent. The Company continues to have an active pipeline of sales opportunities and robust demand for its products. Management is pleased to announce the Company’s key goals for 2024 are as follows:

• Accelerate organic revenue growth and increase Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).
• Achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA in each quarter in 2024.
• Leverage the Propel IQ platform to improve margins⁽¹⁾, decrease churn and increase customer lifetime value (LTV).
• Ramp up sales of the Company’s new SalesCloser AI product.

David Pais, Wishpond’s Chief Financial Officer commented, “I am extremely proud of the entire team at Wishpond as we managed to grow the business last year and maintain positive EBITDA⁽¹⁾ while launching Propel IQ and completing the development of SalesCloser AI. We look forward to reporting higher revenue growth and profitability in 2024 with an improving cash balance.”

Wishpond also announces the departure of its CTO, Dennis Zelada effective April 18, 2024, who left to focus on other opportunities.

Webinar Conference Call Details:

As previously announced, Wishpond will be hosting a webinar conference call to discuss its year-end financial results today at 10:00 AM (PT) / 1:00 PM (ET).

To register for the webinar, please visit the following URL: https://bit.ly/wp_financial_results

Please connect 5 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure time for any software download that may be required.

Selected Financial Highlights: 

The tables below set out selected financial information relating to Wishpond and should be read in conjunction with Wishpond’s Annual Financial Statements and MD&A.

Reconciliation to Adjusted EBITDA

Footnotes:

On Behalf of the Board of Wishpond
“Ali Tajskandar“
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

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