As of today i have a modest stake. I have pasted below the November write up from Lakehouse Capital small companies fund.
Turning to newly disclosed, and recently listed, software company Whispir, which sold off in November on animal spirits. The Fund participated in a small way in the initial public offering back in June and built the majority of its stake shortly thereafter. Whispir is a multi-channel communication platform (text and voice messaging, email and social media) offered via a software-as-a-service model. The business is led by the company’s founder, Jeromy Wells, who is well motivated as he owns roughly 15% of the stock.
Whispir’s software improves efficiency and enhances customer experience by simplifying complex communications processes with automated and drag-and-drop workflows that require little to no coding, so they can be managed with no IT developer or designer skills. This allows users to ensure their stakeholders receive accurate, timely, useful and actionable information that is relevant to their individual circumstances. For example, AGL use Whispir’s platform to automate their e-billing and digital customer experience, and The Department of Fire and Emergency Services of Western Australia use it to coordinate multi-agency emergency responses for communities at risk over a vast 2.6 million square kilometres.
Whispir has strong underlying economics with customer retention rates running at 88% and customer revenue retention rates exceeding 115%. 94% of all overall revenue is sourced from recurring subscription licences and transactional charges across its base of more than 500 enterprise customers across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and North America. Sales come from a combination of direct (roughly 25%) and channel partners, like IBM and Telstra, comprising the lion’s share. Telstra is a key relationship, and vulnerability, for the business as it accounts for over half of total revenue. We take some comfort from Telstra Ventures being a 7.6% shareholder, but have also appropriately sized the position within the portfolio on account of this key relationship.
WSP Price at posting:
$1.41 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
