Release Date: March 05, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
- Blackbird PLC (BBRDF, Financial) achieved a positive EBITDA margin of GBP0.5 million for the first time, indicating improved financial performance.
- The company successfully renewed major contracts with organizations like FIFA, CBS Sports, and the US Department of State, contributing to a 3% increase in the order book.
- Blackbird PLC (BBRDF) launched a new creator payment tier for elevate.io, attracting 100 subscribers from around the world within three weeks.
- The company maintains a healthy balance sheet with no debt and GBP3.8 million in cash, demonstrating strong financial management.
- Elevate.io is positioned as a unique browser-based pro video editing tool, leveraging patented technology for fast navigation and smooth playback, which sets it apart from competitors.
Negative Points
- Revenue for 2024 was GBP1.61 million, down from the previous year due to the loss of the A&E contract.
- Despite positive developments, the company is still in the early stages of scaling elevate.io, with only 100 paying subscribers so far.
- The company faces challenges in rapidly increasing its user base, with current monthly active users at 2,200 and weekly active users at 1,300.
- There is uncertainty about when elevate.io will be fully ready for professional teams, as additional functionality is still being developed.
- Blackbird PLC (BBRDF) may need to consider capital raises to support marketing efforts, which could lead to shareholder dilution.
Q & A Highlights
Q: How are the plans to open up the elevate.io platform for third-party developers coming?
A: Sumit Rai, Chief Product Officer, explained that the infrastructure for third-party plugins is in place, allowing for content input, processing, and distribution. However, the environment for third-party development has not yet been created, though the company plans to make its APIs available eventually.
Q: What kind of integrations with services are planned for elevate.io?
A: Sumit Rai mentioned that initial integrations will focus on getting video content into and out of the platform. Future plans include using cloud capabilities to pull data from other sources for creating graphics and motion graphics.
Q: When might Spark be available as an export option for elevate.io users?
A: Stephen White, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, stated that Spark is currently a development project used for testing technology. It will not be available as a standalone product but will influence future products like Blackbird 10.
Q: What level are paid subscriptions at versus user registrations?
A: Ian McDonough, CEO, noted that the company focuses on metrics like weekly and monthly active users, with current figures at 2,200 monthly and 1,300 weekly active users. These metrics are more relevant than total user registrations.
Q: What is the current status of competition for elevate.io?
A: Sumit Rai highlighted that elevate.io's main advantage is its codec, which allows for more complex video editing in a browser. The platform is positioned between high-end professional tools and low-end social media tools, with no direct competitors in its niche.
Q: Are there any plans to use affiliate marketing for elevate.io?
A: Nick Lisher, Non-Executive Director, mentioned that affiliate marketing is a potential future strategy, but the focus is currently on optimizing key channels like YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google.
Q: How many of the 100 paying users came directly from paid-for marketing?
A: Stephen White indicated that approximately 90% of the paying users were acquired through paid marketing efforts.
Q: What is the timeline for a pro or expert corporate tier being added to elevate.io?
A: Sumit Rai stated that while the functionality for an enterprise tier is not yet developed, the company is monitoring current user limits to inform future enterprise offerings.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
