Wishpond Reports 107% Revenue Growth in Q4-2021; Drives Record Annual Revenue for Fiscal 2021

?        Strong financial performance and balance sheet sets stage for successful 2022.

?        Wishpond reported Record Adjusted EBITDA of $490,873 for Q4-2021.

VANCOUVER, BC, April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Wishpond Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: WISH) (OTCQX: WPNDF) ("Wishpond" or the "Company"), 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 fiscal 2021, representing the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2021. Copies of the Annual Financial Statements and MD&A are available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. 

Ali Tajskander, Wishpond's Chairman and CEO commented, "2021 was a monumental year for Wishpond, as we accomplished record financial results in our first full year as a public company on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV").  We set an aggressive pace in the first quarter of 2021 that we maintained throughout the year with organic and inorganic growth culminating in a record fourth quarter as well as record revenue for the year. I am also very pleased with our financial performance in the fourth quarter 2021, in which we achieved record revenue and Adjusted EBITDA with 107% revenue growth compared to the fourth quarter of 2020."

Ali Tajskander adds, "Including the acquisition of Viral Loops, completed on April 1, 2022, we've now done five acquisitions since going public in December 2020. I am also happy to report that the integration of Winback, acquired on December 31, 2021, has been completed and Winback's customer growth is accelerating.  Meanwhile, the Viral Loops integration is proceeding on schedule and we are already witnessing cross sell opportunities for offering referral marketing solutions to Wishpond's existing customer base.  Our acquisition growth strategy is working nicely and it complements the Company's organic growth."

• Wishpond achieved record annual revenue of $14,761,275 during fiscal 2021, compared to $7,882,018 in fiscal 2020, an increase of 87%. Revenue growth was primarily driven by an increase in sales and marketing activities, new product introductions and acquisitions completed in 2021.
• Wishpond achieved Gross profit⁽¹⁾ of $9,980,399 in fiscal 2021 (2020: $5,229,099), representing a 91% increase from fiscal 2020, driven by an increase in overall revenue. Wishpond achieved a Gross margin⁽¹⁾ percentage of 68% during fiscal 2021 (2020: 66%).
• During fiscal 2021, Wishpond recorded an operating loss of $3,145,322 (2020: $1,645), primarily due to an increase in professional fees and stock-based compensation.
• During fiscal 2021, Wishpond achieved Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $56,389 (2020: $494,902).
• As at December 31, 2021, Wishpond had $6,242,453 in cash and no debt (2020: cash of $7,305,546 and no debt).

• Wishpond achieved record quarterly revenue of $4,666,853 during Q4-2021, compared to revenue of $2,254,771 generated during Q4-2020, an increase of 107%. Revenue growth in Q4-2021 was positively impacted by seasonality in Wishpond's acquired businesses and an increase in the Company's sales team earlier in the year resulted in higher sales in the fourth quarter.
• Wishpond achieved Gross profit⁽¹⁾ of $3,184,611, compared to $1,455,475 during Q4-2020, representing an increase of 119%, driven by an increase in overall revenue. Wishpond achieved a Gross margin⁽¹⁾ percentage of 68% during Q4-2021, compared to Q4-2020 at 65%.
• During Q4-2021, Wishpond recorded an operating loss of $398,540 compared to an operating loss of $4,022 in Q4-2020.
• During Q4-2021, Wishpond achieved positive cash flow from operations of $598,977 compared to $2,075,995 in Q4-2020.
• During Q4-2021, Wishpond achieved record Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $490,873 compared to an Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $121,151 in Q4-2020. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 11% for Q4-2021.

• On October 21, 2021, Wishpond launched its new integration of Zoom with Wishpond Appointments, and the availability of the Wishpond Zoom App in the Zoom App Marketplace. Wishpond Appointments now connects seamlessly with Zoom allowing Wishpond's customers to easily create virtual meetings for their next business call, customer meeting, or consultation.
• On November 16, 2021, the Company announced product enhancements to PersistIQ's products, including an enhanced sales automation platform that gives B2B small business owners access to PersistIQ's outbound sales strategies. The Company also integrated PersistIQ with Wishpond's shared services allowing PersistIQ to introduce new service packages that are integrated with Wishpond shared services, including a new lead generation team, outbound campaign teams, sales development rep (or "SDR") teams, and copy teams.
• On December 31, 2021, the Company acquired certain assets and specific liabilities of AtlasMind Inc. (doing business as "Winback.chat"). Winback.chat is a SMS marketing platform including a cart abandonment tool used by small and medium sized businesses on Shopify. In consideration for the acquisition, Wishpond paid US$700,000 in cash on the acquisition date.

• On January 10, 2022, the Company announced the appointment of David Pais as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr. Pais will have responsibility for all finance, accounting, financial reporting, audit, tax and capital planning functions.
• On January 20, 2022, Wishpond announced that it had completed the integration of Brax, and launched a Universal Ads Editor, providing customers with a faster way to create, launch and monitor campaign performance across multiple platforms ? all from one product.
• On March 3, 2022, the Company announced its new email marketing platform to help small businesses achieve higher levels of engagement, increase email open rates, improve conversion rates and generate higher return on investment. The new email marketing platform includes a new user-friendly interface, the ability to preview email text, support for Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and a new Email application programming interface (API).
• On March 17, 2022, the Company announced a partnership with J.P. Libros Ediciones Oklever, S.A. De C.V. ("LaLeo"), the largest medical eCommerce platform in Mexico and Latin America. Under the partnership, Wishpond and LaLeo will sell and support Invigo's Evergenius^TM software platform to its medical and dental customers in Latin America.
• On April 1, 2022, the Company completed its acquisition of certain assets and specific liabilities of Viral Loops Ltd. ("Viral Loops"). Viral Loops is a Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") company which helps its customers design, create and manage campaigns that result in higher referral visits and revenue for their eCommerce merchants. In consideration for the Viral Loops acquisition, Wishpond provided a cash payment of US$1,380,000 and a one-year performance earn-out that may be paid in cash or by the issuance of the Company's common shares, at the sole discretion of the Company. The one-year earn-out will be based on the projected revenue of the business and is payable on a quarterly basis.
• On April 20, 2022, the Company announced that the number of Winback's customer installations has increased by over 50%, including more than 180 Wishpond clients who are now trialing the platform under promotional pricing plans. Wishpond has also developed and launched new innovative features to the Winback platform over the last quarter.

Wishpond expects to increase its customer base and Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) through organic growth and inorganic acquisitions in 2022.  The Company has continued to invest in sales and marketing activities and operations in Q1-2022 in order to support the organic growth expected in 2022. Despite some seasonality in Q1-2022, Wishpond expects healthy year-over-year revenue growth in 2022. The Company plans to increase headcount in Wishpond's sales team to maintain organic growth as well as in its research and development team to maintain its competitiveness in the industry. The Company expects revenue and earnings growth to accelerate in the second half of 2022 with the integration of its recent acquisitions, an expanded sales team and an increase in the amount of cross-selling opportunities between products and solutions offered across its product lines.  Wishpond expects to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA in 2022, at levels exceeding 2021 results.

"We are very optimistic of our outlook for the remainder of 2022," said David Pais, Wishpond's Chief Financial Officer. "We closed Q4-2021 with the acquisition of Winback and closed Q1-2022 with the acquisition of Viral Loops, thereby ensuring strong momentum for the rest of the year. We have a strong balance sheet that enables us to continue investing in the business. We expect to achieve new record highs for revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in 2022."

The tables below set out selected financial information relating to Wishpond and should be read in conjunction with Wishpond's Annual Financial Statements, including the notes thereto, and MD&A.

Reconciliation to Adjusted EBITDA

The Company will host a webinar today to discuss the financial results at 10:00 am PT (1:00 pm ET). The call will be hosted by: Ali Tajskandar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; David Pais, Chief Financial Officer, and Pardeep S. Sangha, Head of Investor Relations.

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

"Ali Tajskandar"

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Wishpond is a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions. Wishpond's vision is to become the leading provider of digital marketing solutions that empower entrepreneurs to achieve success online. The Company offers an "all-in-one" marketing suite that provides companies with marketing, promotion, lead generation, and sales conversion capabilities on one integrated platform. Wishpond replaces disparate marketing solutions with an easy-to-use product, for a fraction of the cost. Wishpond serves over 3,700 customers who are primarily small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in a wide variety of industries. The Company has developed cutting-edge marketing technology solutions and continues to add new features and applications with great velocity. The Company employs a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model where substantially all the Company's revenue is subscription-based recurring revenue which provides excellent revenue predictability and cash flow visibility. Wishpond is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker "WISH", and on the OTCQX Best Market under the ticker "WPNDF". For further information, visit:  www.wishpond.com.

Information presented in this press release may be only a summary of all available information and does not purport to be a full representation of all figures, notes and discussions provided for in the Annual Financial Statements and MD&A. Readers are cautioned to read the entirety of the Annual Financial Statements and MD&A, and to not rely only on the information presented in this press release. In the event of conflict between the provisions of this press release on the one hand, and the Annual Financial Statements and MD&A on the other hands, the provisions of the Annual Financial Statements and MD&A shall govern.

In this press release, Wishpond has used the following terms ("Non-GAAP Financial Measures") that are not defined by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), but are used by management to evaluate the performance of Wishpond and its business: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA"), gross profit and gross margin. These measures may also be used by investors, financial institutions and credit rating agencies to assess Wishpond's performance and ability to service debt. Non-GAAP Financial Measures do not have standardized meanings prescribed by GAAP and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Securities regulations require that Non-GAAP Financial Measures are clearly defined, qualified and reconciled to their most comparable GAAP financial measures. Except as otherwise indicated, these Non-GAAP Financial Measures are calculated and disclosed on a consistent basis from period to period. Specific items may only be relevant in certain periods. [See the disclosure under the heading "Additional GAAP and Non-GAAP Measures" in Wishpond's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for a discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures and certain reconciliations to GAAP financial measures.] The intent of Non-GAAP Financial Measures is to provide additional useful information to investors and analysts, and the measures do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. The measures should not, therefore, be considered in isolation or used as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Other issuers may calculate Non-GAAP Financial Measures differently. Non-GAAP Financial Measures are identified and defined as follows:

• Gross profit and Gross margin: The Company defines "gross profit" as revenue less cost of sales and "gross margin" as gross profit as a percentage of revenue. Gross profit and gross margin should not be construed as an alternative for revenue or net loss determined in accordance with IFRS. The Company believes that gross profit and gross margin are meaningful metrics in assessing the Company's financial performance and operational efficiency.
• Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an alternative to net earnings, cash flow from operating activities or other measures of financial results determined in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of Wishpond's performance. The Company defines "Adjusted EBITDA" as Loss before income taxes less interest, depreciation and amortization, remeasurement of contingent consideration liability, filing fees, credit facility setup fees, earn-out remuneration, foreign currency losses (gains), acquisition related expenses, net other expenditures (income), reverse takeover listing expense, and stock-based compensation. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a meaningful financial metric as it measures cash generated from operations which the Company can use to fund working capital requirements, service future interest and principal debt repayments and fund future growth initiatives.
• Annualized revenue run-rate: Annualized revenue run rate considers revenue over a number of specified recent months during the year and projects them over a 12-month period to estimate the annual revenues of the company based on recent performance.
• Monthly recurring revenue: Normalized measure of predictable monthly revenue.

Statements that are not reported financial results or other historical information are forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the Company, its subsidiaries and the industries in which they operate, including statements about, among other things, all information contained under the heading "Outlook" herein, expectations, beliefs, plans, future operations, origination of additional targets in which the Company may hold an interest and acquisition opportunities for the Company, business and acquisition strategies, opportunities, objectives, prospects, assumptions, including those related to trends and prospects, and future events and performance. Sentences and phrases containing or modified by words such as "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "intend", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targets", "projects", "is designed to", "strategy", "should", "believe", "contemplate" and similar expressions, and the negative of such expressions, are not historical facts and are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable and are based on, among other things, the expectations and analysis of current market trends and opportunities of management of the Company, such forward-looking statements has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control, including, but not limited to, economic uncertainty and instability as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, instability in global commodity and securities markets, shifts in consumer and institutional spending and marketing strategies, the changing global market and competition for the products and services supplied by the Company, and the additional risk factors discussed in the continuous disclosure materials of the Company which are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Wishpond Technologies Ltd.