Akerna Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter 2021

Software revenue up 37%, total revenue up 38% year-over-year

DENVER, Nov. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading enterprise software company and the developer of the most comprehensive technology infrastructure, ecosystem, and compliance gateway powering the global cannabis industry, today reported its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.  

“Our third-quarter results continued the momentum in 2021, with revenue growth of 37% year over year driven by a mix of organic and inorganic software revenue,” said Jessica Billingsley, CEO of Akerna. “With the acquisition of 365 Cannabis that announced during the quarter, our financial and tax planning integrations now span the majority of the mainstream systems. As consolidation and rapid scaling continue among operators, Akerna is competitively positioned with our ecosystem of the most complete portfolio of web and app-enabled tax, financials, operations, reporting, and compliance systems for the cannabis industry.” 

Akerna is the technology ecosystem for cannabis. Through its family of software, which includes MJ Platform, Viridian Sciences, Ample Organics, Trellis, Leaf Data Systems, Last Call Analytics, solo sciences, 365 Cannabis, and various products and integrations, Akerna provides the only scalable cannabis ERP solution offering compliance, data, taxation, payments, seed-to-sale, track-and-trace, and consulting to operators, governments, and brands. In doing so, Akerna creates one of the world’s most transparent and accountable consumer packaged goods supply chains on a global scale. 

Cannabis companies looking to scale alongside the rapidly expanding industry must leverage the right tools, and enterprise-class software is essential to do so.

Third Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

  • Software revenue was $4.6 million, up 37% year over year 
  • Total revenue was $5.1 million, up 38% year over year 
  • Gross profit was $3.2 million, up 60% year over year 
  • Net loss was $1.3 million, an improvement of 68% year over year 
  • Adjusted EBITDA was negative $1.5 million compared to negative Adjusted EBITDA of $3.0 million for the same quarter prior year, an improvement of 49% year over year 
  • Cash was $9.6 million as of September 30, 2021, compared to $11.8 million as of June 30, 2021

See “Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below

Third Quarter 2021 Key Metrics

  • Total SaaS ARR of $16.5 million, up 25% year over year 
  • Average new business deal size up 7% year over year 
  • Transaction volume up 28% year over year 
  • Retail order spend up 26% year over year 
  • New Bookings ARR of approximately $813,816

Third Quarter 2021 Operational Highlights

  • Announced Cannabis 365 acquisition 
  • Launched Akerna Connect, enabling cannabis dispensaries to offer online ordering, loyalty programs, and text messaging

Subsequent Events

  • Closed 365 Cannabis acquisition 
  • Raised $20 million in convertible debt financing with existing institutional investors

The foregoing financial results are preliminary in nature. Final financial results and other disclosures will be reported in Akerna’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q and may differ materially from the results and disclosures today due to, among other things, the completion of final review procedures, the occurrence of subsequent events or the discovery of additional information. You are encouraged to review the Form 10-Q in detail.

Conference Call Details

Akerna will host a conference call tomorrow, Tuesday, November 9, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial results and business highlights. A question-and-answer session will follow prepared remarks.

Interested parties may listen to the call by dialing:

Toll-Free: 1-877-407-3982
Toll / International: +1-201-493-6780
Conference ID: 13722617

The conference call will also be available via a live, listen-only webcast and can be accessed through the Investor Relations section of Akerna’s website, https://ir.akerna.com/

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