Klipfolio might have had a banner 2015, but as it looks back to its biggest milestones of last year, the dashboard provider is promising even better things ahead
The Ottawa-based company got an early boost in 2015 with a $6.2-million Series A funding round led by OMERS Ventures.
The investment was crucial to Klipfolio’s growth, according to CEO Allan Wille. It allowed the firm to increase its headcount to 20, prompting the company to expand its downtown headquarters last spring.
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Mr. Wille said his company has put together “a world-class team right here in Ottawa,” singling out the addition of Rupert Bonham Carter, a former IBM executive who joined the firm in April as vice-president of customer success.
Klipfolio says it now has 4,000 customers “representing practically every functional area in a company.” Marketing departments are its biggest clients, the company said, but management, finance, sales and development departments are also “active users.”
The firm released Klipfolio for Apple and Android devices in 2015, was named to the Deloitte Companies to Watch list and received a Dresner Advisory Service Leadership Award.
Monthly recurring revenue doubled over the course of the year, and the company continues to see “substantial subscription growth and business momentum,” it said.
The key to having an even better 2016, Mr. Wille said, is to make a “huge move” on the SMB market. The majority of Klipfolio’s customers are small- and medium-sized businesses, and that market segment is still largely untapped, he said.
“There really are no other dashboard vendors that have owned that space or currently own that space, so for us, the fact that we’re growing very quickly in that market and we’re setting our sights on being the de facto market leader in the SMB space, that is really what 2016 is all about,” Mr. Wille said.
To do that, Klipfolio will continue to work at creating the best user experience possible, he said, adding customers usually don’t have IT departments or analysts to help them with the software.
“These guys are restauranteurs, they’re shipping companies, they’re new tech startups,” he said. “They’re on the road and they have their mobile devices. They need to somehow squeeze out efficiencies and automation so we’re really anticipating a world where these SMBs need to integrate or automate their processes.”
In the current Klipfolio system, it takes about 30 to 40 steps to set up the dashboard. The company is working on reducing that to as few as six or seven steps, Mr. Wille said.
The company is continuing to expand its workforce. It is currently looking to hire nine or 10 people, mostly on the development side.
Mr. Wille said the company’s 2016 targets for accounts and revenue were “lofty,” but he wouldn’t disclose exact numbers.
“You know what? We think they’re achievable,” he said. “This market is yet to be owned and that’s our opportunity. I think if we play our cards right and really focus on the user experience, mobile, cloud and helping these companies be successful, I think that space can be ours.”
