103% year-over-year growth
Washington, D.C. – May 13, 2002 – Blackboard Inc., the leading software company for e-
Education, today announced record revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002.
Blackboard Inc. is a privately held company.
In the first quarter ended March 31, 2002, Blackboard’s total revenues were a record $14.7
million, representing 103% growth from first quarter 2001 revenues of $7.3 million and 5%
growth from fourth quarter revenues of $14.1 million. Of the company’s $14.7 million in
revenue, product revenue accounted for approximately $13.4 million or 91% of total revenue,
while services revenue was $1.3 million, or 9% of total revenue. Blackboard ended the first
quarter with $16.3 million of cash.
“We are pleased to see another quarter of record financial results for Blackboard, while at the
same time growing our client base to over 2,400 institutions,” said Michael Chasen, Chief
Executive Officer of Blackboard Inc. “Our first quarter financial results put us on track to
expand R&D and achieve our profitability targets that are central to serving our clients and the
fast growing e-Education industry.”
During the quarter, Blackboard added 136 new clients, of which 22 selected Blackboard ASP
Solutions to host their Blackboard license. Blackboard client renewals for the quarter exceeded
95%.
“At a time when competitors are canceling products or giving them away, we know that clients
and partners are making purchasing and investment decisions based on business stability and
growth,” said Peter Repetti CFO of Blackboard Inc. “Our opportunity and obligation as the
largest software company in postsecondary e-Learning is to translate our growth into expanded
options, innovation, and improved services for our clients.”
Key Highlights from the First Quarter
- New Blackboard clients in the first quarter included Auckland University of Technology
(Australia), Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Drexel E-Learning,
Moravian College, Saint Clair College, San Bernardino Public Schools, SUNY – New
Paltz, University College of Dublin (Ireland), The University of the West of England
(United Kingdom), and Wake County Public Schools. - In January, Blackboard acquired Prometheus, the e-Education industry’s leading
community-source course management system, from George Washington University.
With the acquisition of Prometheus, Blackboard added 65 institutions to its client base
including, London Business School (United Kingdom), Middlebury College, New York
University School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Rochester Institute of
Technology, Stanford Graduate School of Business, UMass Online and The Wharton
School. - In March, Blackboard hosted more than 1,200 e-Education professionals, representing
hundreds of schools, colleges, universities and professional organizations from around
the world at its 3rd annual Blackboard User’s Conference. - Blackboard announced 12 Building Blocks Academic Innovation Grants winners, which
included Baylor University, University of Otago (New Zealand), University of Salzburg
(Austria) and University of South Florida. The Blackboard Building Blocks program
now includes more than 50 academic and corporate partners developing applications for
the Blackboard e-Education Suite™. - Blackboard expanded its Knowledge Base section of the company’s newly redesigned
support site. The Knowledge Base provides clients with enhanced support through
regular supplements to release notes that are easily accessible on a self-service basis. - Blackboard has now completed 110 consulting projects to integrate Blackboard solutions
with major ERP applications from vendors such as Datatel, PeopleSoft, and SCT.
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. was founded to transform the Internet into a powerful environment for teaching and learning. The
company offers a suite of enterprise software products and services that power a total “e-Education Infrastructure”
for schools, colleges, universities and other education providers. Blackboard solutions deliver the promise of the
Internet for online teaching and learning, campus communities, auxiliary services and integration of Web-enabled
student services and back office systems.The Blackboard Learning, Community Portal, and Transaction Systems are consistently ranked by industry analysts
as the market share and client satisfaction leaders for thousands of academic institutions and a leading number of the
Internet’s most popular consumer education sites. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices
and staff across North America, Europe and Asia. Please visit www.blackboard.com for more information.A privately-held company based in Washington, D.C., Blackboard Inc. has raised more than $100 million in capital
from top-tier strategic, venture capital, and private equity investors. Blackboard maintains close partnerships with
its investors to fully leverage their industry relationships, financial expertise, and strategic guidance. Blackboard
strategic investors include AOL-Time Warner (NYSE: AOL), Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: DELL), Kaplan
Ventures, Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT), and Pearson Education. Blackboard’s financial investors include
The Aurora Funds, The Carlyle Group, Dain Rauscher, Edelson Technology Partners, Internet Capital Group
(Nasdaq: ICGE), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: ML), Morgan Keegan, Novak Biddle and Oak Hill Capital Partners.Some of the statements in this news release may constitute “forward-looking statements” that do not directly or
exclusively relate to historical facts. These forward-looking statements reflect our intentions, plans, expectations,
assumptions and beliefs about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which
are outside our control. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include known and unknown risks. Because actual results
could differ materially from our intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about the future, you are
urged to view all forward-looking statements contained in this news release with caution. Blackboard Inc. does not
undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
